


Worthless Necessity: Project Pokemon

by Kirityu_Ryukaro



Series: The Worthless Necessity Series [4]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead Adopts Shinsou Hitoshi, Alternate Universe - No Quirks (My Hero Academia), BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Bakugou Katsuki is a Dork, Bakugou Katsuki is a Good Friend, Crossover, Cute Midoriya Izuku, Dabi is Todoroki Touya, Dabi is a Todoroki, Heroes are Gym Leaders, Legendary Pokemon, M/M, Mentor Nedzu (My Hero Academia), Midoriya Izuku & Nedzu Friendship, Midoriya Izuku & Shinsou Hitoshi Friendship, Midoriya Izuku Needs A Hug, Midoriya Izuku is a Dork, Nedzu is a Pokemon, Parent Nedzu (My Hero Academia), Parental Nedzu (My Hero Academia), Parental Shuuzenji Chiyo | Recovery Girl, Pokemon, Pokemon Battles, Pokemon Contests, Pokemon Journey, Protective Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Protective Bakugou Katsuki, Protective Iida Tenya, Protective Kouda Kouji, Protective Midoriya Hisashi, Protective Midoriya Inko, Protective Midoriya Izuku, Protective Nedzu (My Hero Academia), Protective Shinsou Hitoshi, Protective Todoroki Shouto, Protective Uraraka Ochako, Protective Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Sad Midoriya Izuku, Shinsou Hitoshi Needs a Hug, Shinsou Hitoshi is Bad at Feelings, Shuuzenji Chiyo | Recovery Girl is So Done
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:54:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25089511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirityu_Ryukaro/pseuds/Kirityu_Ryukaro
Summary: An AU of an AU, basically Worthless Necessity in the world of Pokemon. Everything is different, but everything remains the same.Makes more sense if you read Worthless Necessity first, but it's not necessary,
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Midoriya Izuku/Shinsou Hitoshi
Series: The Worthless Necessity Series [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666462
Comments: 39
Kudos: 226





	1. Setting out

**Author's Note:**

> A/N Okay, I'm not really following the mechanics of the Pokemon games, so several things to note about this story.
> 
> 1\. Pokemon can know moves they don't normally know, and have abilities they don't normally get, due to mutations and experimentation, as well as personality traits acting as an ability. Other basic moves, like Tackle and Scratch, can also be known by Pokemon that don't normally learn them because they're really basic moves. Also, Magikarp can canonically learn Hydro Pump as of Generation 8, so why can't it learn Water Gun? And moves can be combined with other moves to form other moves, so eh.
> 
> 2\. There are no move limits. All Pokemon can eventually use all the moves in their natural level-up moveset, and depending on how they are raising and trained, their ability to use TMs and TRs can differ.
> 
> 3\. Pokemon can be afflicted with multiple status ailments at the same time AKA Burns, Poison, Paralysis and Sleep.
> 
> 4\. Powers, Mega Evolution and move usage follow the Pokemon Adventures manga and the general anime closer than the games, so yes, you might want to read up on characters like Yellow and N.
> 
> 5\. I don't know too much about Dynamaxing since I don't have the Generation 8 games, and the anime is only has 26 episodes so far, so while I would use it, I much prefer Z-moves and Mega Evolution. And Z-moves don't need the stupid dance for it to work. I mean, sure, Yamada would probably do the poses, but can you imagine Aizawa doing those stupid poses?
> 
> This fic is more of a fun little break for me to take from Worthless Necessity, and it's kind of an AU of Worthless Necessity as well. So I'm really just doing whatever and it's just going to be full of bullshit XDXD.

Shinsou yawned, and sat up his bed. The brown, fox-like pokemon sitting on his lap stretched, and hopped onto the side, staring up at Shinsou, chirping, _"Hitoshi! Morning!"_

"Morning, Vee." Shinsou scratched the Eevee behind her ears, and she purred, rubbing herself against his hand, before Shinsou stood up, "Come on, we've got to get going soon. We need to be at Nezu's office before we can start our journey."

Vee nodded, and she pranced over to Shinsou's backpack as the lilac haired boy headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and change.

It didn't take too long for Shinsou to change into his travel clothes, which consisted of a short-sleeved purple and dark grey jacket, some loose fitting grey tights and some knee length black baggy pants, along with purple sports shoes.

"Not too bad, I guess..." Shinsou stared at his reflection for about half a second, before he grabbed his purple and black bag. Vee hopped onto his shoulder, and Shinsou exited his room, only to realise that his dad was making breakfast, his pops nowhere to be seen, most likely still trying to style his hair.

"Morning, Hitoshi." Aizawa gruffly greeted him, doing a pink apron and a horrific pair of pink sweatpants, as the Umbreon curled up by Aizawa's feet raised his head, purring out a greeting, before he rolled over, flopping over Aizawa's pink slippers.

"Morning Dad, Blacky." Shinsou raised his eyebrow, "You're up early. I thought you only run the gym in the afternoon so you can sleep in."

Aizawa rolled his eyes, "Knowing Hizashi, he's probably getting Pom Pom to help him style his hair. And you're going to be out on your own. It's illogical to let you leave without having a proper meal."

Shinsou chuckled as he settled down by the table, as Aizawa placed a plate of pancakes and a cup of coffee in front of him, "True... I guess..."

Aizawa tried to find the pokemon food specifically made for Eevee and their evolutionary forms, only to find that they has run out, so Blacky pushed his bowl of food over to Vee, to which the younger Eevee chirped her thanks and tucked in. Aizawa sat down on the table with his own breakfast, "Just be careful with Nezu. Don't ask any questions, don't act out of line, don't do anything unless he tells you to do it. He can turn anything into an hour long lecture, and let me tell you, it's horrible once he starts talking about tea."

Blacky rolled his eyes, _"Oh gods, I remember that. It was a real earful, back in the days."_

 _"Really? That bad?"_ Vee asked, and Blacky nodded, _"He'll keep going on and on and on, and once you think he's finally done, he'll just start up again. It was terrible."_

"Nezu's a pokemon, right?" Shinsou asked, and Aizawa nodded, sipping his coffee, "Yes. He's a Furret with the ability Telepathy. It's not a natural ability for that species to have, but it does grant him the ability to communite his thoughts clearly to humans. Since he's able to actually use pokemon moves, as well as various TMs and TRs, he's the leading expert on pokemon moves, as well as battle strategy."

Shinsou nodded, "Sounds cool."

"You don't want to anger Recovery Girl either." Aizawa groaned, "Take proper care of your pokemon. Don't let them get so badly injured to the point that they need to be hospitalized, or she'll chew you out for hours. Of course, accidents do happen, and it's only logical for you to take care of your pokemon."

"Gotcha." Shinsou nodded, as Blacky turned towards the clock, _"It's almost time for you to leave, Hitoshi."_

"Now? Thanks Blacky." Shinsou nodded, finishing up his coffee, as Aizawa turned to the clock, "Already?"

"Apparently." Shinsou picked up his bag, "Tell Pops I said bye."

"Hitoshi..." Aizawa called out, throwing Shinsou a couple of empty pokeballs, "Take these. Hizashi and I aren't going to be catching pokemon any time soon, and these are just going to end up dusting. Also, your money is limited when you just start out, it's iloogical to waste money on these, especially when you're going to be building your team."

"Alright, thanks." Shinsou nodded, and Aizawa glanced up, looking at the purple haired boy in the eye, "Hitoshi... be careful. You know how people in your old town tend to treat you because of your special ability... try not to let anyone else learn of your power."

Vee patted Shinsou's cheek, and the boy nodded, "I know. I'll be careful."

"Good. If you need help, just call." Aizawa sighed, "Now shoo. If you're late, you'll probably end up getting grilled."

Shinsou laughed, and nodded, "Come on, Vee. Let's go!"

* * *

"Hey, Purple Fuck." Bakugou greeted, as Shinsou ran into Nezu's office.

"You're as pleasant as always." Shinsou shot back, as Bakugou grinned, "So, which other extras are we waiting for?"

"Stop calling everyone extras..." Shinsou sighed, "And we need to wait for Kirishima, Shiozaki, Tokage, and Kodai."

"Tch." Bakugou growled, as he turned to the side, "We need to wait for them?"

"We're early. Of course we do." Shinsou rolled his eyes, as Vee leaned against his face, already bored, and she started pawed against Shinsou's fluffy purple hair.

"Hey! Am I late?" Kirishima ran up to the group, a Rockruff at his heel, "Hey Shinsou! Bakugou! It's really manly to be early!"

"Speak of the devil... Your Pokemon?" Shinsou sweatdropped, as Vee hopped down to play with Kirishima's Rockruff.

Kirishima nodded, "He hatched from an egg! His name's Red, and he's a rock type. Really manly! We're going to conquer the League, aren't we, Red?"

 _"Yup! Manly!"_ Red barked in agreement, and it didn't take too long for Tokage, Shiozaki, and Kodai to arrive at the lab, as Shuzenji walked into the room, an Audino right behind her.

"Oh, you kids are here already." She muttered, "Iyasu, can you bring some tea?"

 _"On it!"_ The Audino nodded, immediately running off, as Shuzenji turned her attention back to the students, "Nezu would be here in a minute or two. He's just updating the Pokedex entries."

Shinsou nodded, and Iyasu returned to the room, carrying several cups of tea and a kettle on a tray.

"Thank you, Iyasu." Shuzenji reached up, patting her in the head, and the Audino let out a content chirp, before a long, brown pokemon with a scar over his right eye raced into the room, wearing a shirt and coat. The Furret stopped in front of the kids, flicking his tail, before he spoke up, "Welcome! You're here for your starters and Pokedex, right?"

The students nodded, all busy observing the pokemon, as Nezu bowed slightly, "My name is Nezu. I'm the pokemon professor around here. Now, let me check the attendence... Bakugou Katsuki, Tokage Setsuna, Kodai Yui, Kirishima Eijiro, and Shinsou Hitoshi, right?"

The students nodded again, before Nezu walked over to a table, picking out a few pokeballs, "Step aside, Shinsou, Kirishima. Those two Eevee and Rockruff are your starter, right?"

"Yes." Shinsou and Kirishima replied, moving over to stand by Shuzenji, before Nezu released the pokemon inside the pokeballs.

A Cyndaquil, Poplio, Treeko, Sobble, Snivy, Torchic, Froakie, and a Chimchar emerged, and the Cyndaquil huffed, frustrated at being cooped up inside his ball for so long, and fired off an Ember.

"I want that one." Bakugou stated pointing towards Cyndaquil, and Nezu sweatdropped, seeing that Shiozaki was observing Snivy, Tokage had picked up Treeko, and Kodai was petting Sobble, "Normally, I'd say Ladies first, but I guess no one's really fighting you for him."

Shiozaki had chosen Snivy, Kodai had picked Sobble, and Tokage had chosen Treeko, so Nezu gave the four kids their respective pokeballs, using his comouter to register them to their trainer IDs, before handing the pokeballs to the kids, "Alright. These Pokemon are now yours. Treat them with utmost care. Shinsou, Kirishima, can you give me your Pokeballs so I can register then as well?"

Shinsou and Kirishima dutifully passed over Vee and Red's pokeballs respectively, and it was only a minute before Nezu gave the pokeballa back to then, "Are you going to you nickname your Pokemon?"

Bakugou released Cyndaquil and picked him up, "King Explosion Murder."

"Too long." Shuzenji groaned, "Pick something that's more of a name and less of a title."

Nezu chuckled as Bakugou and his Cyndaquil both swore under their breaths, before he gave the teenagers their own Pokedex, which looked like phones, as well as an additional Pokeball each.

"What's this?" Kirishima asked curiously, before all the pokeballs opened on their own, startling the teenagers, as a bunch of Rotom burst out, and flew into each individual Pokedex, booting them up, displaying the signature eyes of Rotom on the screen, before the screens turned black again.

"This is a Rotom Pokedex, you can use it to track what Pokemon you've caught, their abilities, and their movesets, among other things. You can also buy TMs and TRs, and their data is also stored in the Pokedex. There is also a map and GPS, as well as a radio card, so you can keep track of the news, and your Trainer IDs are linked to your Pokedex. The Rotoms that inhabit the Pokedex are also registered under your Trainer IDs, so you technically can carry seven pokemon at once time, including Rotom. But they generally don't like battling and prefer to inhabit and operate the Pokedex, or other devices like bikes, and are locked out of your normal party, so you probably won't use them to battle. That doesn't mean that they can't battle, per say, but they would usually only do so as a last resort, or if your Pokedex is stolen by villains. That reminds me, if your Pokedex is broken or lost or stolen, find the nearest Pokemon Center and contact me so that we can fix it, or I can deactivate it before anyone uses it for malicious purposes. Rotom should still be able to inhabit them, but won't be able to use any of the Pokedex functions."

The students nodded, "Understood."

"Alright. Have fun." Nezu waved, as Tokage pointed to a black device that looked drastically different from their Pokedex sitting on Nezu's desk, "Uh, sir, not to be rude, but is that another model of the Pokedex? Is someone else coming in later?"

Shinsou immediately froze up, remembering what Aizawa had said, as Nezu turned around, spotting the device Tokage was talking about, "Ah! That's for my assistant! He's the one going around and updating the Pokedex entries."

"I see!" Tokage nodded, "Awesome! I'd like to meet that assistant of yours!"

Nezu turned, looking out of the window, "One day, maybe. He spends a lot of time outside with other Pokemon on his own. Maybe you'll see him on your journey."

* * *

"Alright!" Yamada grinned, before turning to his Pom-Pom form Oricorio, "Pom Pom, how do I look?"

Pom Pom chirped, waving her pom pom like feathers around, Yamada strutted out of the room, "Where's Hitoshi?"

"Left already." Aizawa rolled his eyes, pushing a plate of pancakes towards him as he read the newspaper, "Eat up. You have a student, don't you? And a gym to run."

"Yup! Jiro!" Yamada nodded, "You know, she got her Poplio a few months back? And she also caught a Whismur a few days ago!"

"Yay." Aizawa replied dryly, "Is her friend still shocking hinself?"

"You know how Pichus are in general... they're babies and can't control their electricity." Yamada sighed, and Aizawa rolled his eyes, "Kaminari, right? He's probably going to get brain damage at the rate Pichu keeps shocking him."

Yamada laughed, "Well, his family is the one keeping all the generators in the city running, so I'm sure they can handle it. Plus, I don't think any Pichu's electric shocks are powerful enough to cause brain damage."

"Whatever." Aizawa grumbled, "I just hope Nezu isn't holding all the kids back by talking about tea."

* * *

"Lucky..." Shinsou sighed as he walked away from Nezu's lab towards Route One, "He didn't start talking too much like Dad said he would."

Vee nodded, before she hopped onto the ground, sniffing the grass that was just outside Musutasu Town, before she looked up, _"What are we going to do now?"_

"I don't know." Shinsou shrugged, "The first gym is in the next town, and he's a Steel Type specialist. You do know Double Kick and Dig, so I don't think we'd have too much trouble. I think we should just go slow, take our time, train a little, and just see what Pokemon we can find around here."

Vee nodded, and she started playing around in the grass, as Shinsou watched her fooling around.

Back when he had finally adjusted to being adopted by Aizawa and Yamada, he had been outside exploring, when he had come across an injured Eevee, lying down in the grass, suffering from poison and burns. He had taken the Eevee home, and his parents had healed the Eevee with a conbination of berries, Full Restores and Aizawa's Hatterene's ability, Aromatherapy.

Eevee apparently didn't have a trainer, nor did she remember what had occured to reduce her to such a state, but she was really attached to Shinsou and Aizawa allowed him to keep her, and the small boy had nicknamed her Vee.

Shinsou took out his Rotom Pokedex, switching it on. The screen booted up, and Rotom blinked at him, before smiling, floating up into the air, "User, Shinsou Hitoshi! Good morning, Shinsou!"

"Good morning, Rotom. And Hitoshi is just fine." Shinsou greeted, as Rotom beeped in confusion, "But we've just met!"

"I mean, we're going to be travelling together. Doesn't really matter, anyways, we're going to be friends." Shinsou shrugged, as Rotom beeped happily, "Friends!"

Shinsou nodded, as Vee stopped playing around, and walked towards the floating phone. Rotom waved a blue, ghostly appendage around, before Shinsou asked, "Rotom, can you scan Vee?"

Rotom nodded, "Eevee, the Evolution Pokemon. Eevee has an unbalanced and unstable genetic makeup, and while the reason for their unstable genes is still unknown, their genes are easily influenced by its surroundings, and can suddenly mutate due to the environment in which it lives. Radiation from various stones causes this Pokémon to evolve. Eevee can evolve into eight different species of Pokemon. This Eevee has a Naive nature, and her ability is Adaptability."

The grass shuddered, before a wild Nickit jumped out, growling, and Vee turned to face it, before turning back to Shinsou.

"Alright." Shinsou nodded, "Let's try out Quick Attack, and follow it up with Double Kick!"

Vee shot forwards, faster than the blink of an eye, before she whirled around, kicking the Nickit with both her hind legs, knocking the wild pokemon out.

"Alright, great job." Shinsou scratched Vee behind the ears as the Nickit regained consciousness and ran back into the bushes, and Vee hopped up onto Shinsou's shoulder as the lavander haired boy continued on his way to Tokyo City, the Rotom Pokedex floating behind him.


	2. Steeling Weather

"Alright! Here we are!" Shinsou grinned, as he walked into Tokyo City, admiring the view, before he headed straight to the pokemon center. They had several battles with trainers and wild Pokemon before they reached their destination, so Shinsou wanted to make sure that Vee was fully healed up, then they could have dinner, do some training, before challenging the gym in the morning.

Much to his surprise, there wasn't anyone by the counters, except for a Blissey and an Audino, and Shinsou walked up to the counter.

"Excuse me, is there a nurse around here?" Shinsou asked.

Blissey shook her head, _"Nope! Most of the Pokecenters are run by Chansey, Blissey, Audino and Rotom! The Rotom are more than capable of operating the healing machines, and we can takr care of anything else with Heal Pulse, Aromatherapy, and Heal Bell, among other moves. We only call in humans if the injuries are too serious for us to handle."_

"Ah... okay... Can you heal Vee for me?" Shinsou asked, before Vee hopped onto the counter, with Rotom buzzing around, more interested in scanning the two pink pokemon. Blissey nodded, and she brought Vee into another room, before coming back in another minute, _"All good!"_

Vee squealed as she jumped back onto Shinsou shoulder, nuzzling him, before Shinsou muttered, "Hmm... I figure we should find a place to stay... I know that Tensei and Tenya live in this city, but I don't want to bother them."

One of the computer monitors blared to life, as another pair of Rotom eyes appeared, blinking, "Need a room? We've got a couple of empty rooms at the moment. You should reserve one now; usually, the rooms are all reserved after dinner."

Shinsou turned towards the monitor, nodding, "Ah... actually, yes, please. How much is the rent?"

"Can I scan your Pokedex?" The Rotom asked, and Shinsou's Rotom flew over, resting its Pokedex body on the scanner, and a loading screen appeared on the monitor.

"Scanning... Registered Pokemon Trainer, Shinsou Hitoshi. Welcome!" Rotom appeared back on the monitor, "Don't worry about rent. Rooms in the Pokecenters are free for registered Pokemon trainers."

"Ah, thank you." Shinsou nodded, and the Rotom smiled, "Just doing my job! Have a nice day!"

The monitor flickered to black, and Shinsou and Vee both stared at the now darkened monitor, confused.

"Okay... we've got a room, I guess..." Shinsou sweatdropped, and Vee nodded.

"Well, I guess we should get dinner now, right, Vee?" Shinsou turned to Vee, and the Eevee reached up, patting his chin with her paw as Rotom floated around, displaying a map of the Pokecenter on the Pokedex screen, "The cafeteria's somewhere here!"

"Thanks Rotom." Shinsou grinned, "Come on, let's go."

* * *

"The room's not too bad, huh?" Shinsou grinned, rubbing a towel through his hair, trying to get all the water out of it.

Vee nodded, curled up on the pillow, as Rotom scanned the wild Pidgey and Fletchlings that were right outside their window. They had practiced Double Kick and Dig before heading to their room, and Vee was pretty excited for the rooms.

"Ah, Rotom, do you have my parent's contacts?" Shinsou asked, as Rotom scanned the contacts, beeping, "Is it Dad or Pops?"

"Uh, both." Shinsou replied, "Can you send them a message?"

"Sure!" Rotom grinned, "What do you want me to type?"

"Uh... just "Hi, I'm in Tokyo City and we're staying in the Pokemon Center for the night"... I think that should do." Shinsou spoke up, and Rotom beeped, "Done! Uh... your "Pops" replied with a lot of thumbs up emojis... and he typed "My baby is all grown up!" and "I'm sorry I didn't see you off this morning!" and your "Dad" replied with "Shut up" and -"

"You don't have to read the replies out!" Shinsou stammered, turning red in embarrassment, as Vee laughed at her trainer, and Shinsou huffed, "Don't laugh, Vee!"

"Okay!" Rotom grinned, "Won't read your messages out next time, Hitoshi!"

"Thanks, Rotom." Shinsou sighed, before he straighted up, "Hey, Rotom, I'm assuming that we'll be meeting other Roton, like that other Rotom in the Pokecenter... do you want a nickname?"

Rotom buzzed for a few seconds before he spoke up, "Well, the other Rotom in the training facility call me Plasma."

"Training facility?" Shinsou asked, a little worried, and Plasma nodded, "Yep! We have to be specifically trained in order to operate the Pokedex, you know? Sure, there are base lines of code to follow, but there are a lot of features that are only made possible because of us Rotom! Like me being able to translate Pokespeech for you through the speakers of the Pokedex! Or being able to update our current set of data on the fly! It's like all the other Pokemon that help to operate generators, or aid the blind, stuff like that. It's like, special training to be able to take on a really special job!"

"Thank goodness..." Shinsou sighed, and Vee nodded, relieved, "I thought you were like... forced into operating the Pokedex."

"Nope." Plasma shook its entire Pokedex body, "If we didn't want to do this, we're not forced to. Nezu wouldn't stand for it. Are you worried about something?"

"No... it's just... you know, there are reports of a lot of stuff going around. Criminal gangs that kidnap Pokemon, smuggling, illegal experimentation... stuff like that... I know Vee can take care of herself, and that the Pokemon Commission has sent out some Pro Trainers to try and take down these criminal organizations... That's the main reason why the minimum travelling age had been increased from 10 to 15. I'm just worried that we might stumble into something too big for us to handle." Shinsou admitted.

Plasma hummed, nodding, "Makes sense. But worrying too much about it won't do much good. I think we should be fine as long as we stick to the main paths, and only camp out if it's really necessary. Pro Trainers would most likely be stationed in every city and town, and I can quickly call for help if something does happen."

"Awesome! Counting on you, Plasma." Shinsou smiled, and Plasma beeped, "It's pretty late now. You need me to set an alarm?"

"Nah, it's the first day, I think we can sleep in. Assuming I can sleep in the first place..." Shinsou yawned, flicking off the lights before laying down on the bed, Vee curling up beside him.

"Alright, good night!" Plasma rested on the table, and the Pokedex shut off, and Shinsou muttered, "Night, Plasma, Vee."

* * *

Needless to say, Shinsou couldn't sleep that night. He was way to excited for the gym battle, and his insomnia usually kept him awake for half the night. Vee also kept restlessly turning in her sleep, and it had taken all their willpower to not just run up to the gym and barge in before the sun even rose.

The sun eventually rose, illuminating the entire town, and Shinsou and Vee immediately raced down to the cafeteria for some breakfast while Plasma woke up, a bit surprised to find that the room was empty. It wasn't too long before Shinsou and Vee returned, packing up their stuff and checking out.

Plasma calculated the quickest route to the gym, and Shinsou quickly made his way there, gently pushing the door open and making his way inside.

A familiar bespectacled boy was sweeping the floor with his Skarmory, and Shinsou's face lit up, "Tenya! What are you doing in the gym?"

Skarmory that was holding onto another broom chirped, waving a metallic wing, and Iida looked up, pushing his glasses up, "Ah! Hitoshi! My brother's the gym leader, so why wouldn't I be here?"

Shinsou's eyebrow shot up, "Tensei's the gym leader?"

Iida nodded, "Yep. He was a Pro Trainer, and since the former gym leader was retiring, Tensei applied for the spot and he ended up being the gym leader!"

"Cool." Shinsou nodded, "Is that your pokemon?"

"Ah, nope. This is Valkyrie, and she's kind of a wild Skarmory that just appeared here one day when I was young and just stuck around. I just got my starter a few months ago... here." Iida pulled a Pokeball off his belt, releasing a Piplup. Piplup looked around, before rushing over to Valkyrie, nuzzling her leg, and Valkyrie just reached down with one wing, gently petting the Penguin Pokemon's head.

"This is Aqua." Iida introduced, and Aqua raised his flipper, waving shyly at Shinsou. Vee jumped off Shinsou's shoulder, and shot forwards to play with Aqua, as Iida turned to Shinsou, "So, you want to battle my brother, right? For the gym badge?"

Shinsou nodded, and Iida continued, "Tensei's out for a patrol right now, do you want a quick battle?"

"Sure." Shinsou shrugged, "Also, are you going to participate in the Pokemon League? That annual event held by the Pokemon Commission?"

"Yep." Iida nodded, "However, I don't want my first gym battle to be with Tensei. You know how you need eight badges to enter the Pokemon League? Depending on how many badges you have, the level of Pokemon that the gym leaders use also differ. Since you don't have any badges, Tensei can't use his strongest gym team against you."

Shinsou nodded, "Makes sense... If I had to face against Tensei's Skarmory... I don't think anyone would win, even Bakugou's cyndaquil, at the moment. He's too well trained."

"Exactly!" Iida exclaimed, "I know you want to battle you dad's gym last, so he's going to be using his second most powerful team. I want to fight my brother at his strongest, so I'm going to hold off my battle with him until the end."

"So you're going to travel too?" Shinsou asked, "Want to join me?"

Iida shook his head, "At the moment, I want to train and stay here, and learn as much as I can from Tensei."

"Ah, okay." Shinsou nodded, "So, battle?"

"You're on." Iida nodded, and he flicked on the lights for the main battling stage. The two boys took their positions, and Aqua and Vee both hopped onto their respective sides of the field, as Valkyrie flew over, settling down at the referee's position.

"She's refereeing?" Shinsou asked, and Iida nodded, "Yeah, it's an unofficial match anyways."

Valkyrie squawked, raising her wings, starting the battle, and Iida called out, "Bubble Beam!"

"Bite!" Shinsou yelled, as a flurry of bubbles erupted from Aqua's mouth, but Vee immediately dodged, and immediately jumped into a Quick Attack, speeding towards Aqua before biting down on his tail. Aqua squeaked in surprise, trying to shake Vee off, but Vee just grinned and flipped, slamming the Piplup into the ground, her teeth still firmly clamped around Aqua's tail.

"Ice Beam!" Iida hurriedly called out, and Aqua fired off a light blue beam of ice, but Vee let go of Aqua, and narrowly evaded the attack, before firing off a continuous stream of Swifts. Upon seeing this, Aqua immediately switched into using Bide, and Shinsou called out, "Vee! Stop attacking! He's using Bide!"

Vee took a step back, and stopped attacking, but it was too late, and Aqua's Bide was already charged up. Aqua shot after Vee, who squealed in surprise and ran away with Quick Attack, with Aqua chasing after her relentlessly, glowing white.

Suddenly, Aqua slowed down, before the white glow shifted to a much more powerful, bluish sheen. When the light finally died down, a Prinplup was standing in Aqua's place, and the larger Penguin Pokemon looked down to examine his longer wings and larger body.

"Well, I suppose it was going to happen sooner or later." A voice rang out, and Iida and Shinsou bother turned towards the main entrance of the gym, spotting Tensei grinning brightly at them, a much larger Skarmory standing right behind him.

"Tensei! When did you get back?" Iida asked, and Tensei replied, "A few minutes ago. Saw you two battling, and you looked like you were having fun, so I just decided to watch. Didn't expect Aqua to evolve now, though, so congrats!"

Iida smiled at the praise he got from his older brother, and Aqua puffed his chest out at Tensei proudly. Tensei patted Aqua's head, before turning to Shinsou, "Hey Hitoshi! You came for a gym battle, right?"

Shinsou nodded, and Tensei grinned, "Tenya, can you help him heal up Vee? I'm going to grab the team I'm using for the gym battle. We'll start in five minutes."

* * *

"You ready? This is going to be a three on three battle." Tensei asked, and Shinsou paused, "I only have Vee at the moment.

Tensei sweatdropped, "I mean... you did just start out yesterday... but then again, knowing how long you've had Vee, I'm not surprised that you're confident in her abilities."

Shinsou nodded, and Tensei tossed out his first Pokemon, which was a Ferroseed, and Iida started the battle.

"Ingrain!" Tensei ordered, and Ferroseed dug his roots into the ground. Shinsou growled, before calling out, "Vee, Sand Attack!"

Vee nodded, and started kicking sand in Ferroseed's eyes, but Tensei smirked and called out, "Harden. Keep it up."

Shinsou narrowed his eyes; Tensei was using Harden to further boost Ferroseed's already very good defense, and Ingrain was just going to keep healing Ferroseed. They couldn't do chip damage, and while Shinsou didn't want to reveal one of Vee's supereffective moves so soon, they needed to take Ferroseed out before Vee got too tired.

"Dig." Shinsou ordered, and Vee started digging underground, as Ferroseed continued using Harden. Vee emerged from under Ferroseed, slashing away at the Ingrain with her tiny claws. They weren't long enough to use moves like Scratch or Slash, but it was good enough to tear up the Ingrain, before finishing Dig, and sending Ferroseed into the air.

"Iron Head!" Tensei called out, and Ferroseed found his balance, flipping over, and dive-bombing towards Vee, but Vee hastily zipped away with Quick Attack without any orders, and due to all the sand in his eyes, Ferroseed couldn't adjust his course and smashed into the ground with so much force that it created a crater, knocking out Thorn Seed Pokemon in the process.

"Aww man." Tensei laughed, scratching his head as he recalled Ferroseed, "Vee's very well trained. Most Trainer Pokemon won't move unless they've been given an explicit order to do so, for some reason."

Vee raised an eyebrow, grumbling, _"Which idiot would just want to just sit there and tank that!?"_

It seemed like Shinsou had the same question, and asked, "Who in the right mind would do that?!"

"I don't know, but I guess domesticating Pokemon does have that side effect..." Iida sighed, before throwing out his neck Pokemon, which was a Shieldon.

"A Shieldon!" Plasma exclaimed, rushing over to examine it, much to Iida and Shieldon's surprise, "Shieldon, the Shield Pokemon. Shieldon lived in primeval jungles, and it habitually polishes its face by rubbing it against tree trunks. Few enemies would have been willing to square off against its heavily armored face, so it's thought. It was generated from a fossil dug out of a layer of clay that was older than anyone knows , and many fossils of this Pokémon have been found, but almost none have shown signs of damage to the face."

"Cool!" Shinsou grinned, "Vee, you good to go?"

 _"Yep!"_ Vee yipped, and Iida started the battle again after Plasma flew off to watch the match from the side.

"Let's go for the first move. Dig!" Shinsou called out, and Vee dove into the ground again.

"Be careful of the ground. That Eevee would pop up at any moment." Tensei said, and Shieldon nodded, boosting his defense, before looking at the ground, ready for Vee to pop up. Vee erupted from the ground, but Shieldon was fast enough to dodge the attack, and aimed it's shield towards Vee.

"Double Kick! And keep it going!" Shinsou grinned, and Vee smirked, immediately kicking Shieldon in the face several times, knocking the Shield Pokemon back. Shieldon growled, as Vee landed, before zipping off into another Quick Attack.

"Iron Defense!" Tensei yelled; Shieldon wouldn't be able to keep up with Vee's speed, and she knew Double Kick, a move that most Eevee wouldn't know due their parentage, so their only option was to hope that they could tank Vee's attacks and counter attack.

"Nope! Double Kick!" Shinsou ordered, and Vee leapt around, aiming a Double Kick right on his back, knocking Shieldon out.

Tensei laughed jokingly as he recalled Shieldon, "Man, Vee knows Double Kick? I'm in trouble!"

"Brother! You shouldn't be joking around!" Iida halfheartedly berated. He knew that Tensei was using his weakest team, as per the rules set by Pokemon Commission, but it still wasn't really nice to see his brother. Then again, his friend was winning, so Iida wasn't really too upset about it.

"Relax, Tenya!" Tensei grinned, "If you're so stiff all the time, you won't be able to enjoy the battles!"

He threw out an Alolan Sandshrew, and the second Iida started the battle, he ordered, "Defense Curl into Rollout! Add in Rapid Spin and Gyro Ball as well, for good measure!"

"What kind of combination is that!?" Shinsou yelped, as Sandshrew bulked up his defense with Defense Curl, which added to the power of Rollout since Sandshew was curled up so tightly, and Rapid Spin and Gyro Ball only helped to increase Sandshrew's speed. Vee had ran away in alarm with Quick Attack, but Sandshrew was slowly catching up, the power of his attack continuously increasing.

"Sunny Day!" Shinsou hastily called out. Vee wasn't very proficient with Sunny Day, and it only worked around 50% of the time, but Sandshrew was an Ice Type; even if Sunny Day didn't work, Vee should be able to give out enough heat that it would do something, right?

Vee released a white beam of light to the sky, causing the sun to shine brighter through the windows on the roof of the gym. It wasn't strong enough to do any real damage, and Sandshrew did slow down a little due to the heat, but Vee accidentally tripped over a rock in her haste to get away from Sandshrew, and Sandshrew crashed into her with the combination of Defense Curl, Rollout, Rapid Spin and Gyro Ball.

Sandshrew rolled away, and tried to find some shade so his icy hide wouldn't melt, and Vee stumbled away, a bit dazed, but overall, still okay. Luckily, Rollout was only on it's first stage, so it wasn't too powerful, but that combination of moves alone would have taken out Vee had the sun and the heat not slow Sandshrew's Rollout down somewhat.

"Rollout again!" Tensei ordered, and Sandshrew continued rolling, and sharply turned, racing towards Vee, before Shinsou called out, "Weather Ball!"

A red energy ball with fire streams appeared from Vee's mouth, and she fired it at Sandshrew, hitting him head on, but Sandshrew had too much forwards momentum, and Vee was too tired to move, and Sandshrew crashed into her, creating a dust cloud.

"Vee!" Shinsou yelled out, worried, as the dust cleared, with Vee pushing herself to her feet shakily as Sandshrew stumbled backwards, dizzy and tired, before he collapsed to the ground, completely passed out.

"Sandshrew is unable to battle. Hitoshi wins." Iida declared, and Vee pawed over to Shinsou tiredly, nuzzling against his leg, before Shinsou picked her up, "Good job, Vee."

Vee chirped, and Tensei recalled Sandshrew, "Not bad, Hitoshi."

"Thanks, Tensei." Shinsou scratched Vee behind the ears, as Tensei grinned, "Come on! Let's heal our Pokemon up, and I'll give you your gym badge."

* * *

It didn't take too long for all the Pokemon to get healed up, and Tensei passed over an engine looking badge, "Can you pass me your Pokedex?"

"Here!" Plasma beeped, floating over to Tensei as Shinsou examined the badge curiously. Tensei tapped around on the screen, before he released Plasma, and the Rotom tried to figure out what Tensei had done.

"Ah, I just registered the badge under your Trainer ID." Tensei explained, "Last time, there were several occasions where badges were stolen to enter the League, or trainers didn't show all their badges before a gym battle to get some easy wins. So it was decided that registering the badge under the Trainer ID directly was the best way to keep track of all the gym wins, and the badges themselves are kind of just there as a memento."

"So, where are you heading to next?" Iida asked, and Shinsou scratched his head, "I don't know, maybe travel through Mt Gunga and find Hosu? I think there's another gym there."

"There is." Tensei nodded, before turning to Iida, "Tenya, why don't you go with him? I know you wanted to stay here for a little while more, but there's honestly no better learning experience than going out and seeing stuff for yourself. Plus... with all sorts of criminal activity going on... I would rather you be travelling with a friend rather than being all on your own."

"Hmm..." Iida placed his hand on his chin, before he adjusted his glasses and started chopping his hands, "I agree! I think it's very important for Pokemon Trainers to gain explore and gain experience, and it would be safer to travel with more people, especially if it is with someone we trust!"

Aqua was mirroring Iida's hand motions with his flippers, and Tensei tossed Iida a couple of empty Pokeballs, "Alright, stay safe. If you need anything, just call. Oh... hold on..."

He waved Plasma over, and the Rotom just floated back to Tensei, curious, as the gym leader inputted some numbers in the Pokedex, "Alright. I added my Pro Trainer number, as well as Nemuri, Shouta and Hizashi's. If something happens, I'm trusting you guys to reach out to any of us. You have a Rotom Pokedex, compared to Tenya's regular one, so I figured it's more convenient and easier for Rotom to handle all the contacts while you guys figure out how to stay safe."

"Understood!" Plasma buzzed around happily, and Tensei smiled, "Alright, that's all from me. Have fun!"


	3. Shiny Stones and Emeralds

It had taken some time for Iida to pack his bag.

Actually, scratch that. It had taken almost _forever_ for Iida to pack because he wanted to bring so many books and potions and antidotes _just in case_ something happened, as well as berries, and a ridiculous number of spare glasses.

But finally, after what felt like an eternity, Iida was finally ready to go, and they could start heading to Mt Gunga. Tensei waved as Iida and Shinsou left the building, and turned to Valkyrie, who was just staring at the door forelornly.

"You okay, Val?" Tensei asked, and Valkyrie let out a sad chirp, scratching the ground.

"You want to go with Tenya, don't you?" Tensei asked, and Valkyrie nodded, as one of Tensei's Pokeball's snapped open, releasing his Skarmory. Tensei's Skarmory was much larger than Valkyrie, and he patted Valkyrie's head gently with his wing, pushing her towards the door.

"He should be either be in the city or on Route 2; I don't think he's gone too far yet. Go on." Tensei grinned, also urging her towards the door, "I'm sure he'll be happy to bring you along."

Valkyrie perked up, and screeched, waving at Tensei and his Skarmory with one wing as she took to the air and flew out of the gym, the automatic doors opening and closing in her wake.

"Well, come on, Shu. Let's get ready for the next challenger." Tensei spoke up, and Shu nodded.

* * *

But first, they had to traverse through Route 2, and that route was full of trainers that wanted to battle, though with Vee's vast moveset and Aqua's evolution, it honestly wasn't too hard for them to beat all the trainers, though Aqua and Vee were both exhausted by the end of the battle. At least, they did get a fair bit of money as their winnings, and Plasma was having a blast scanning all the Pokemon.

Luckily, there was a Pokecenter right outside of Mt Gunga, so Iida and Shinsou decided to heal up their Pokemon while they were at it.

"Oh! Hey!" A familar voice rang out, and Iida and Shinsou both turned, noticing Uraraka and Koda waving at them, seated at one of the tables at the Pokecenter.

 _"Hallo!"_ Vee tiredly waved, and Iida smiled, "Hello Koji, Ochako!"

"Hi!" Uraraka waved, "Heal up your Pokemon first! We can talk later!"

After leaving their Pokemon with the Chansey at the counter, Iida and Shinsou sat down at the table with Uraraka and Koda.

"Don't you two live in Hosu City? On the other side of Mt Gunga?" Iida asked, "What are you two doing here?"

"Ah, my parents caught a Minccino for me as my starter a few months ago." Uraraka explained, "We've trained a little, and she's strong, and she's been really eager to evolve, though we're still training to get even stronger. And since she needs a Shiny Stone to even have a choice in evolving, but we can't just outrightly buy one, we're just searching around Mt Gunga for one. There's a few Clefairy here, and maybe one or two Clefable, so there's a pretty high chance that there are moon stones here. And maybe, if we're lucky, we could also find a Shiny Stone, since there were also people who found other evolutionary stones here there. Koji also wanted to explore Mt Gunga, and we decided it was safer to just explore together, you know. Safety in numbers and all."

Koda nodded in agreement, and the television near the table blared to life, and a Rotom spoke out, "Uraraka and Koda, right? Your Pokemon are ready for collection!"

"Thanks!" Uraraka grinned, and she and Koda move to stand up, before the Rotom seemed to notice Shinsou and Iida at the table, "Ah! Shinsou and Iida! You're Pokemon are ready too!"

"Thank you." Iida nodded, as Plasma flew up and beeped, "Hello!"

"You're Rotom Pokedex?" The Rotom asked, "You should go to the counter and connect to the computer there. It would give you alerts on news, and when you're Pokemon are healed if you leave them at the Pokecenter."

"Okay! Thank you!" Plasma thanked the other Rotom, and the television screen faded to blank.

"Woah! You have a Rotom Pokedex?" Uraraka gasped, "Awesome! My family doesnt have enough money to apply for one, so I'm sharing Koji's Pokedex for now."

"If you ever need help, you can come and ask me!" Plasma puffed out their chest proudly.

"Come on, let's collect our Pokemon." Shinsou grinned.

* * *

"So, what are you planning to do now?" Uraraka asked, as the four teenagers exited the Pokecenter.

"Well, we're going back to Hosu." Koda replied, "We have to head back through Mt Gunga. What about you two?"

"We're heading to Hosu too." Shinsou replied, "I'm going to challenge the gym there."

"Same here." Iida nodded, "Tensei has given me the go-ahead to travel with Hitoshi, and I'm also going to be taking the gym challenges for the Pokemon League."

"Travelling together... that sounds awesome." Uraraka grinned, "We're all going to Hosu, so we're going to be travelling together for a while! I want to explore the world too, maybe my parents would let me travel with you guys!"

"Well, if you decide to do so, you're welcome to join us any time!" Iida offered, and Koda added, "This sounds fun! I'll have to ask my parents too!"

"Well, we'll need to go back first." Uraraka pulled out a Pokeball, releasing a Minccino, that eagarly climbed up Uraraka's arm to ride on her shoulder.

"Meet Kinu!' Uraraka grinned, as Plasma scanned her, "Minccino, the Chinchilla Pokemon. Minccino prefer a tidy habitat. They are always sweeping and dusting, using their tails as brooms or mops to clean any and all filth, but its focus on spotlessness can make cleaning more of a hassle. They greet one another by rubbing each other thoroughly with their tails, which are always kept well groomed and clean. When its tail has gotten dirty from self-cleaning or from cleaning its nest, Minccino spends a whole day washing its tail in clean spring water."

"Nice." Shinsou commented, and Vee greeted Kinu, as Koda released his Chikorita and Snom.

"You already know Yuwai." Koda gestured to the Snom, and placed Yuwai on his shoulder, "I didn't know that she wanted to go with me after I got Chiko from the professor."

Iida raised his eyebrow, and released Aqua from his Pokeball, "Wait, who's the professor you worked with? I know most of the people living in Musutafu Town got their starters from Nezu, and even I had to go there for my starter. I don't think you're allowed to go through Mt Gunga without any pokemon..."

"Ah." Koda hummed, "There isn't any professor in Hosu City. We had to go to the next city, Takoba City, for our starters and Pokedex. The professor is Mera, you remember, that really sleepy guy that keeps complaining every other minute on how overworked they were?"

"Oh, him." Uraraka smirked, "He was our examiner to even get our licences, right?"

Koda nodded, and Iida added, "Makes sense. We had to go to Nezu's office to take our exam."

"Anyways, we should get going -" Shinsou was cut off by a loud screech, and a Skarmory swooped downwards, right in front of Iida.

"Woah!" Uraraka gasped, as Iida's eyes lit up in recognition, "Valkyrie! What are you doing here?"

Valkyrie just leaned down, pecking Iida's cheek gently, _"I want to go with you!"_

"Valkyrie, I don't know what you're saying." Iida replied, patting Valkyrie's head, but the Skarmory just pouted, before she ripped Iida's glasses off his face gently, flapping her wings about wildly, and gestured at the Pokeballs on Iida's belt.

"You... want to come with us?" Iida finally had some semblance of what Valkyrie was trying to convey, and she nodded, giving Iida back his glasses.

"You sure?" Iida asked, pulling out a Pokeball, and Valkyrie let out a happy warble, before poking the button on the Pokeball. The spherical device sucked Valkyrie in, and barely even shook before it let out a "ding" that indicated a successful capture, and almost immediately, Valkyrie popped back out of the Pokeball, before she nuzzled Iida happily.

"Welcome to the team, Valkyrie." Iida gave Valkyrie a hug, and Aqua also ran over to hug Valkyrie's leg.

"Awesome!" Uraraka gushed, before Plasma let out a beep, "I hate to break up a reunion, but if you want to get to Hosu City before the sun sets, you'll have to leave soon."

"Ah, thank you, Plasma." Shinsou nodded, "Come on, we need to go."

* * *

"So dark..." Shinsou grumbled, looking about warily, "We don't have the Flash TM, do we?"

"Nope." Iida shook his head, scrolling through his Pokedex, "I have a couple TMs and TRs, but none are Flash."

The only light in the cave was the screens of Iida's Pokedex and the Pokedex that Plasma was inhabiting, but strangely enough, there were

"Huh... this place is... surprisingly quiet..." Uraraka muttered, as she traversed through Mt Gunga, "It was way noisier when we came in earlier..."

Koda nodded, before there was the sound of some pebbles being kicked over, and an Abra teleported into the cavern they were in for no reason.

"An Abra?" Koda frowned, "Aren't those really rare? And they usually teleport _away_ from humans. What is one doing here?"

The Abra used their psychic powers to float over to the group of teenagers, before yelling in their minds, _"Get out of here. There are a lot of bad guys around! It's not safe!"  
_

"What do you mean, bad guys?" Shinsou asked in alarm, as Uraraka paused, "You mean... all those villains that kidnap and smuggle Pokemon?"

 _"Exactly."_ Abra replied, _"There were several trainers traversing through here as well, and they were also captured by the bad people. Get out while you can."_

"We've got to help them..." Iida piped up, as Plasma beeped, "I have contacted Ingenium, Eraser Head, Midnight and Present Mic, though I'm not sure whether the signal can get out since we're in a cave."

_"Oh no."_

"Look here! Four more brats." A guy dressed in a black shirt and pants appeared out of nowhere, before he raised his hand and spoke into his communication device, "We've got more."

Suddenly, a lot more villains appeared out of thin air, "A Skarmory and an Eevee, huh. And a couple of starters. This would be a great haul."

"Shit... we're going to have to fight." Shinsou growled, as the villains threw out a variety of Pokemon that included Garbodours, Liepards, Weaviles, Gengars, Thievuls, and a whole lot of other Pokemon.

"We're far too outnumbered." Uraraka hissed, the four trainers standing back to back as they tried to keep an eye on all the villains' Pokemon.

Before either of them could move, there was a loud explosion coming from deeper into the cave, and a loud roar rang out.

"What's that!?" One of the villains yelled, but before any of them could do anything, a flash of fire appeared out of nowhere, and they rammed two of the Weaviles with Flame Charge, taking them out instantly. The bird-like figure shrouded in flames screeched, making a quick U-Turn, blasting off a powerful Heat Wave, that severely weakened the other Pokemon, as smoke leaked into the room.

"Smokescreen?" Another villain growled, before a menacing cry roared out, and another figure leapt forward, their true identity obscured by the smoke. Green draconic energy lit up all the smoke, and the figure slashed at the rest of the villains' Pokemon as the other bird-like Pokemon picked off the remainder of the stragglers with Swift and Dual Wingbeat.

The Smokescreen cleared up slightly, just enough to revealing all the knocked out Pokemon, and Shinsou just looked around in awe at how efficient the Pokemon were.

"Fuck!" The villains yelled, recalling their Pokemon, and pulled out their weapons, but before they could even move, the flying figure, still obscured in smoke, knocked away all the weapons with Tailwind, as a Dark Pulse blasted in out of nowhere, hitting one villain in the chest, before the beam of dark energy moved along, mowing down the rest of the villains.

"Who's there?" Iida tried to take control of the situation, and the bird-like Pokemon flew deeper into the cave, and perched on the shoulder of a figure standing there. The flames were gone, so they couldn't make out what Pokemon it was, and all they could see were two emerald eyes glinting in the darkness, and a tail flame that was distinctly from the Charmander line.

The lizard Pokemon slammed their fist into the ground, and columns of flames erupted from the ground, surrounding the figures, and when the fire finally died down, they were all gone.

"What... was that..." Koda stammered, as Plasma beeped, "Judging by the size... that's either a Charmander or a Charmeleon! How do they know Fire Pledge!?"

"I don't know..." Shinsou let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

He knew those emerald eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make Yuwai a rabbit, but there arent any good white rabbit pokemon, so Snom!


	4. The Beast's Forest

"Sorry, I came as fast as I could!" Tensei panted, as he surveyed the area around them. The lights had been fixed, and the caves were now brightly lit, and Tensei frowned, "What happened? You kids aren't hurt, are you?"

Shu leaned down to nuzzle Iida, and Shinsou shook his head, "I don't... think we're hurt..."

"Alright." Tensei nodded, "I would tell you guys to get out, but we're pretty deep into the cave, and I don't know if there are any other villains lurking around. Follow me, closely, and don't touch anything."

Tensei threw out another two Pokeballs, revealing an Alolan Sandslash and a Bisharp, "Stay on the lookout, okay, ?"

The two Pokemon nodded, and Tensei started walking deeper into the cave, with the four teenagers following behind him.

After walking for some time, Tensei came into a large cavern within the cave. There were a ton of machinery and heavy duty cages, but they were all broken and dented, some even melted. There were also a couple of hikers and other trainers that were standing around, exhausted, as a large Dragonite towered over some tied up and knocked out villains.

"Ryukyu!" Tensei called out, waving and the pro trainer's head snapped up from where she was observing one of the broken machines, and she grinned, "Ingenium. What brings you here?"

"My little bro." Tensei chuckled, leaning on Iida's shoulder, much to the younger's chagrin, "Got an alert about villains, so I came over, though it seems like everything was resolved before I got here."

"Yep." Tatsuma nodded, as her Haxorous sniffed at the exposed wiring, "I'll explain more once we get out of here. I'll need to bring this back for the Commission to look at it, though. I'm no good with tech."

All of a sudden, the Abra appeared out of nowhere, much to the teenager's surprise. They sniffed the air, before turning towards Koda, _"You seem nice."_

"Hi." Koda meekly raised his hand to wave, before he took out some food from his backpack. The Abra floated around, clearly curious, teleportating the snacks out of Koda's hand, before he munched down on them eagarly. After a few minutes of eating, the Abra slowly reached out, patting one of the spare Pokeballs on Koda's belt, letting the sphere suck him in.

The ball didn't even shake, and the red light on the button of the Pokebal faded away as the successful capture "ding" rang out almost instantly.

Koda just held up the Pokeball in bewilderment.

"Well... if only catching Pokemon were that easy." Iida blinked, and Uraraka let out a laugh.

"It seems like you kids have had an eventful day." Tensei smiled, "Come on, let's get out of here."

* * *

"So, what do we have?" Aizawa crossed his arms, as they all stood in Tatsuma's office. With Tatsuma and Tensei's help, the four teenagers had made it all the way to Hosu City without any other problems, and the second that Tatsuma heard from Plasma that Aizawa, Yamada and Kayama had been contacted, she had sent out her Dragapult and Dragonite to pick them up from Musutasu Town and Naruhata City respectively.

"Basically, same old things. Villains who are trying to capture Pokemon to make a profit, mining rare stones for the black market, stuff like that." Tensei replied, "But what is more intriguing is the one that took these villains out."

She showed some images of some broken machinery and cages, "These were clearly broken apart by some really powerful pokemon. These heavy duty cages are made to withstand large impacts and high temperatures, and they're pretty commonly used by villains since wild Pokemon usually aren't strong enough to break out of them. Heck, even most trainer Pokemon would have trouble even making a dent in these things, and these were melted and sliced up like butter. It's definitely not a wild pokemon, that's for sure. None of the Pokemon native to these caves have strong enough claws to do this."

"Hmm..." Kayama mused, "I'm going to guess they have a trainer, then? Maybe it's one of the other pro trainers."

"Nope." Tatsuma shook her head, "As far as I know, only All Might or Endeavor's Pokemon are strong enough to possible melt through these bars, and neither of them are near here. Plus, if they were here, they would be taking care of the rest of the paper work and claim credit. Whoever it is... they're strong. And they don't want their identity to be known."

"Bzz!" Plasma spoke up, "When we were surrounded, there was someone else in the cave!"

"There was?" Yamada asked, and he glanced at Tensei, Tatsuma, Kayama and Aizawa knowingly.

"Yeah." Shinsou nodded, as Plasma pulled up the image. It was very blurry, but they could distinctively make out the signature tail flame of the Charmander line, and four pairs of eyes that glinted in the dark.

"I think that's a bird pokemon? That doesn't narrow it down by a lot, though." Kayama pointed at a blurry splotch that looked like it had wings, perched on the figure's shoulder.

"That's..." Tatsuma squinted at the image, before looking up at the other four trainers, "You think that's _him_?"

" _Him_?" Iida asked, and Tensei glanced at Tatsuma. She thought for a second, and nodded, "I think they deserve to know. It's rare for him to even be seen by pro trainers, let alone newbies who are just starting out."

"Alright." Kayama started, before she turned to face the four teenagers, "We have a speculation that the trainer you just saw is Void."

"Who?" Uraraka raised an eyebrow, as Tensei continued, "We don't know much about them. All we know is that they either has a Charmander or a Charmeleon, though judging by the size of the claw marks, it's most likely a Charmeleon, another bird-like Pokemon, as well as a fox-like Pokemon. They're most commonly seen taking out villains, and freeing Pokemon that they try to capture. It's rare for them to appear in front of registered trainers, though, but that could be because you're new."

"Well... the bird seemed to have a coat of fire?" Iida scratched his head, "I'm not too sure if it was a fire type, or it was using Brave Bird, though... and the fox-like Pokemon, I'm going to assume, knows Dark Pulse."

"That doesn't help narrow anything down, though. They're rather common moves for their respective body types." Aizawa sighed, before Plasma beeped again, "The Charmeleon knows Fire Pledge! They used it and just disappeared!"

"Maybe a teleporter?" Yamada asked, before he blinked, "Wait... I thought only the fully evolved starters can learn Fire Pledge?"

"Not really. All fire type starters can use Fire Pledge." Aizawa shrugged, "It's a bit harder for the pre-evolutions to handle the power of the move, though, since it's rather complex, being able to sync with Water or Grass Pledge, but still, if they are well trained enough, they are capable of using the move."

"Oh." Yamada muttered, as Tensei turned towards the teenagers, "Well, at least you guys are safe. None of your Pokemon were stolen or hurt, right?"

"Nope." Shinsou shook his head, "Void... they kind of took care of everything."

"Alight. Be careful." Tatsuma smiled, before she glanced at Plasma, "Come here for a second."

"Me?" Plasma asked, and Tatsuma nodded. The Rotom Pokedex flew over to her, and she gently grabbed onto it, inputting her number, "Take care. I'll be around Japan for work, so we might cross paths. If you encounter any villains, contact me. At the very least, if I can't help, I'll get other Pro Trainers to help."

"Thank you, Ms Ryukyu." Iida bowed, and Tatsuma laughed, "Don't worry about it. Our jobs are to keep you guys safe as you explore the world, after all. Go out and have some fun. The adults have to talk business."

Tatsuma waited until the kids left, before she turned to the other trainers, "Do you think we should investigate The Beast's Forest?"

Yamada, Aizawa, and Tensei promptly blanched. The Beast's Forest was actually a huge forest that was located right in the middle of the region, with smaller sections of the forest branching out between cities. Right in the middle of the forest, there was a huge lake with crystal clear, fresh, clean water.

Seven years ago, a wealthy company had once tried to make their way to the lake, in an attempt to turn it into a tourist resort around it, despite the government refusing to preserve what was left of the natural environment, but the second they tried to bulldoze their way through the forest to create a path, their construction equipment and vehicles were promptly overturned and destroyed with several Psychics, Future Sights, Eruption, and Draco Meteors.

No matter which city they tried to enter from, there was always some Pokemon there to destroy their equipment. The government didn't intervene, since they were doing it against the law and the Pokemon were just trying to protect their territory, but even they couldn't figure out what Pokemon were attacking them. They couldn't even get a glimpse of the defensive party, and eventually, the company went bankrupt from the sheer number of failed attempts at trying to destroy a part the forest. The most damage they managed to do was to knock a tree down and break several rocks.

Most people had learnt never to enter that forest for no reason, and it had even been named "The Beast's Forest" from that incident.

Recently, there had been sightings of ridiculously overpowered and evolved Pokemon in The Beast's Forest, and people had flocked there in an attempt to catch them for themselves, especially poachers, despite the warnings never to ever traverse there unprepared.

Needless to say, the three Heroes had seen tons of horrified trainers and tour guides racing out of the forest, and even caught several beaten and bruised poachers. Aizawa had been suspecting that there was someone residing in the forest, using it as a hideout, and the supposed "wild" pokemon that was attacking everyone was actually trained, right until they encountered a Hydreigon roaming around in the forest, with several Zweilous and Deino trailing behind it.

Hydreigon and its entire evolutionary line were known for their violent, destructive tenancies, and would attack anything that moves, determining it as an enemy. Much to their surprise, instead of just outright attacking them, the Hydreigon just flew up to them, and sniffed them curiously. Despite Yamada's attempts at stopping Tensei, the blue haired man decided to explain to the dragon Pokemon the reason why they were there, and the Hydreigon just cocked its head, before gently headbutting them in the direction out of the forest.

It was surprisingly calm for a member of its species, but the trio did note that Hydreigon was well fed, and so was every other member of its little hoard. There was plenty of berries and space for them to roam, free of human pollution, so Tensei thought that Hydreigon was actually a pretty chill Pokemon as long as they weren't hungry, or felt that there was something was a threat to them.

Either way, they weren't eager to return to "The Beast's Forest". They were pretty sure that the small hoard of the Hydreigon line could have hurt them really badly if they hadn't somehow managed to not provoke them by accident, and there were also rumors that there were other pseudo-legendary Pokemon like the Dragonite, Tyranitar, Salamence, Garchomp and Goodra line residing within the forest.

"Nope. You won't stand a chance." Yamada shook his head, and Tatsuma raised an eyebrow. Either way, she wasn't going to argue with them.

* * *

The second they exited the office, "The gym leader here is Manual, right?"

"Yep!" Uraraka nodded, "Water type specialist! Are you and Tenya both going to challenge the gym?"

"I know I will." Shinsou nodded, and Iida chopped his arms excitedly, "Yes! I will be gunning for my first badge!"

"Well...Hitoshi has one badge and Tenya has none, right? Would Manual use two different teams?" Koda asked

"I don't know. There might be some overlap, but for the first few badges, I don't think the difference in level can be too much though." Shinsou admitted.

"Well, I think I'll be fine, since I have both Aqua and Valkyrie." Iida stated, "You may have been able to beat my brother with only Vee, but I think it's better to bring another Pokemon to fight Manual, just in case."

"Yeah..." Shinsou nodded, "Makes sense."

Vee seemed excited that they were getting a new team member, and Uraraka paused, "Well... I don't know where you can find a new team member... We can try the caves again, but that would have to wait while they close it for investigations. I do know there is this one place where people say they can catch Pokemon... but..."

"Oh... there..." Koda muttered.

"Where?" Iida asked.

"The Beast's Forest. A small section of it runs between Hosu City and Shimane Prefecture, which is the next city. We'll need to get through it to get to the next city eventually... but we can check it out." Uraraka replied, slightly hesitantly.

"You don't seem very confident, though." Shinsou noted.

"Well... there are rumors about really strong Pokemon in The Beast's Forest." Koda admitted, "We're still not sure about that small section between the cities... we just haven't really heard good things about it."

"Well... we're going to have to pass through it eventually." Shinsou sighed, "Might as well take a look."

* * *

Midoriya raised his head, looking around the forest in which he resided in.

Something was wrong.

He could feel it in the depths of his very being. He's been getting reports from tapping into various radio stations about outbreaks of viscous Pokemon attacking humans or other trained Pokemon for absolutely no reason. Now, that wasn't odd enough on its own. When people say "no reason", it's mostly because they've somehow upset the Pokemon's natural habitat, and didn't want to out themselves, like the selfish assholes they were.

Midoriya knew it wasn't a problem with people trespassing into wild Pokemon's territory, or that there were poachers on the loose or anything of the sort. Of course, Midoriya had been doing his best to clear out poachers that came into the forest, and was friends with pretty much everyone who lived in the forest, and if they couldn't handle a human problem themselves, they would come find him for help. The Pokemon who were attacking didn't come from this forest.

The green haired boy looked up towards the sky, and the Shiny Eevee that was sleeping on his lap raised her head as well. A Charmeleon was curled up by his side, soaking up the nice sun, and a Fletchinder was perched on the Charmeleon's tail, gently pecking at the tail flame curiously.

The Charmeleon flicked his tail in irritation, and Midoriya gently patted the avian's feathers, "Ryuto, leave Pyro alone."

Ryuto let out a small chirp, before he fluttered up to Midoriya's hair, making himself comfortable in his green locks. Midoriya let him do whatever he wanted, and the Eevee just looked up at him, smirking.

"Reiko, don't laugh at me."

The Shiny Eevee just continued to smirk at the human, before she settled down again for a nap.

A Flygon flew out of the forest, landing right in front of the boy, _"Four humans have just entered the forest. They're all teenagers, though. I don't think they mean any harm."_

Midoriya nodded, and he looked down, "Five more minutes, okay?"


	5. Electric Sparks

"So..." Iida looked around the forest, "I don't see any Pokemon here."

"Manual is a water type gym leader, right?" Shinsou asked, and Uraraka nodded, "Yeah! Grass types and electric types are super effective against them, so you might want to try those typings. Water and grass types also resist damage... dragon too, but I doubt that we'd find any dragon type Pokemon here..."

The four trainers searched around for several hours, to no avail. Suddenly, there was a rustle from one of the bushes, and a small brown head poked out, looking at the kids curiously, before stepping out of the bushes, shaking the leaves off of their fur coat.

"A Zigzagoon!" Iida pointed at the cream and brown coloured Pokemon, who was just running in zigzags, almost like it was trying to get their attention. Upon seeing Iida pointing them out, the Zigzagoon's face lit up, before they ran over to Iida, sniffing his shoes curiously.

Plasma scanned the Pokemon, as a picture of a a cream and blown Zigzagoon popped up, as well as a black and white one, "Zigzagoon, the Tiny Raccoon Pokemon. Zigzagoon restlessly wanders everywhere at all times because it is very curious. They become interested in anything that they happen to see, and are very good at finding items in the grass, and even in the ground."

"Why are there two?" Shinsou asked, and Plasma beeped, "The one you see right now is the regular variant found in most places, while the the black and white one is Galarian variant. Their restlessness have them constantly running around. If they see another Pokemon, they will purposely run into them in order to start a fight."

"I see..." Iida nodded in understanding.

"Well, that's the first person we've seen all day." Shinsou scratched his head, looking around the forest, "I thought there should be a lot of bug Pokemon, at the very least... it is a forest, after all..."

Koda shuddered at the mention of bug Pokemon, but Yuwai just nuzzled him gently from her position on his shoulder.

Suddenly, the Zigzagoon looked up and raced back into the forest.

"It's running away! Follow it!" Uraraka yelled, and the four kids just raced into deeper into the forest, trying their best to chase after the nimble pokemon.

"Vee!" Shinsou nodded at his Eevee, and the Evolution Pokemon leapt off his shoulder, before chasing after the Zigzagoon. It wasn't long before the Zigzagoon stopped, dodging to the side as Vee almost crashed into them, before looking upwards, letting their tongue out like an excited puppy.

Iida just blinked at the Zigzagoon, confused by their behavior, before the four kids looked upwards, shifting their gaze to try and see what the Zigzagoon was looking at, before they all froze as a dark aura blasted out.

Standing high up on a tree, stood a hooded figure, wearing a black hoodie, black fingerless gloves, as well as some dark sweatpants and matching combat boots. They couldn't make out any features of the figure's face, but bright, emerald eyes, gleaming in the darkness, as a sense of familiarity settled over them.

"Wait..." Koda stammered out, "Aren't you... the same guy from the cave?"

The figure didn't respond to Koda's question, instead, just training their gaze on the Zigzagoon that was yipping excitedly, running around in zigzags.

Shinsou just gazed at the boy. He hadn't been too sure when they were in the cave, but now... he was pretty sure that he knew who exactly was under the hood.

A blast of wind rushed through the forest, and the four kids tried their best to brace themselves.

The wind finally died down, and Iida turned his head back to the tree, trying to find the figure clad in black, only to notice that the figure had completely disappeared with absolutely no trace. All that was left was a couple of Oran Berries that were at the base of the tree that the figure was standing on.

The Zigzagoon hastily ran over to the tree, sitting by the Oran Berries, before they turned towards Iida, yipping excitedly at him. Koda's Abra let himself out of his Pokeball, before walking over to the Zigzagoon. They conversed for a couple of seconds, before Abra turned to Iida, speaking with telepathy, _"Well... it seems like you've gotten his approval."_

"Approval?" Iida asked, and the Abra nodded, _"Yeah! According to Zero, he was checking to make sure we were good. He's been looking for a trainer and was excited about the prospect of battling and growing stronger!"_

"I see... I'm assuming the Zigzagoon's name is Zero?" Shinsou asked, and the Abra nodded.

"Speaking of which... do you have a name?" Koda asked, "Like... a name your family gave you, or a nickname that you'd like to be called? Unless you prefer to be called by your species name..."

The Abra tilted his head, before replying, _"I quite like my species name. My family gave me a weird name... and I don't even want to get around to spelling it. Too much trouble."_

"Well... okay then." Koda sweatdropped.

Zero was more than happy to share the Oran Berries with Yuwai and Abra, and Plasma quickly zipped out of the Pokedex, wolfing down an Oran Berry, before zooming back to possess the Pokedex.

Uraraka asked, "So... based on what Abra said... Zero was seeking out a trainer? I'm going assume Tenya's going to catch him because they both go NYOOM."

Koda burst out laughing, as Iida chopped the air, "I do NOT go nyoom!"

Somehow, Uraraka and Iida got into an argument about whether Iida did or didn't go nyoom, and during that time, the Pokemon were finished with the Oran Berries. Zero spotted a spare Pokeball hanging on Iida's belt, so he just took a running start, and jumped, hitting the button of the Ppokeball with his forehead, before getting sucked into the whtie and red sphere.

The sound of the Zigzagoon being sucked into the Pokeball startled Iida and Uraraka, and they both watched as the Pokeball fell to the floor, barely shaking, before the ding of a successful capture rang out.

"How do we keep encountering Pokemon that we don't have to battle?" Koda blinked, and Plasma... shrugged... somehow, even though it was possessing a machine that didn't have any proper arms.

"Tenya has Valkryie, Aqua, and Zero. Koji has Yuwai and Chiko. Hitoshi and I are the only ones with one Pokemon?" Uraraka muttered.

Iida stuck his hand out, "You shouldn't focus on quantity! Rather, quality is much more important!"

Uraraka huffed, "I know! It's not that important for me, since Kinu and I are just exploring... but you and Hitoshi are both taking on the Gyms. It's always better to have some backup, since the gym leaders use like... three Pokemon at the minimum."

Noticing that Shinsou wasn't responding, Uraraka turned around, before mutterng, "Uh... Hitoshi?"

Iida and Koda both paused, before they looked around, trying to find the lavender haired boy.

"Hitoshi!? Where are you?" Koda called out, as Iida scratched his head, "Wasn't he just here with us? When did he run off? Plasma, did you see anything?"

The Rotom Pokedex beeped, "Nope.. I didn't see anything... Sorry..."

"It's alright... we'll find him somehow... But we might have to venture deeper into the Beast's Forest." Uraraka sighed, "We should stick together. Splitting up would just make us more vulnerable, especially since the Pokemon around here are rumored to be much more powerful than regular wild Pokemon."

* * *

"So..." Nezu picked up a cup of tea, settling into his chair, "More villain attacks?"

"Yeah, but no casualties. Apparently, there was some vigilante who apparently appeared as well." Aizawa sighed, as Yamada stood next to him, using the Alakazams that are located at every single Pokemon Center to make it back to Musutafu Town quickly.

Kayama just folded her arms, with a Mightyena curled up by her feet, lightly napping.

"Well... if the vigilante's helping to take down villains and poachers, I don't see why we should care." Kayama shrugged, "I mean, that means that they're on our side."

"We don't know their true motives, though." Yamada sighed, "And the weird thing is... we pros hear reports of the vigilante, but we never see them. But Kouda, Hitoshi, Tenya, and Uraraka apparently did."

Nezu seemed rather nonchalant about this entire matter, "Well... the kids are safe, and that's the most important thing."

"Shouta, you know you don't have to baby them anymore, right? They're already fifteen." Kayama muttered, "They'll be fine."

"Yeah, I suppose so." Aizawa sighed, as Yamada rested an arm on the black haired man's shoulder.

Aizawa shoved him off.

"Do I look like an arm rest to you?" Aizawa scowled, "You're an adult, act your age."

Yamada gasped, "Shouta! You wound me!"

"Oh, shut up! Don't you have a gym to run!?"

Nezu just blinked, sweatdropping, "How did they get together again?"

Kayama shrugged, "They were made to be. Don't overthink it."

* * *

Shinsou felt the wind die down, and he let his arms drop to his side. Vee just fluffed up her fur, shaking her head, before she pawed over to Shinsou's feet.

"Hey, Vee." Shinsou gently scratched her head, before he looked around, noticing that his surroundings were very quiet. He couldn't find his friends anywhere, and the boy frowned, "Ochako? Koji? Tenya?"

Vee looked around, before her ears perked up, and she ran towards a bright opening among the foliage.

"Vee, where are you going?" Shinsou called out, and the Eevee paused briefly, before she turned around, _"Follow me!"_

"If you say so..." Shinsou muttered, before he raced after Vee, bursting out into a clearing. There was a huge lake, surrounded by forests, and Shinsou couldn't help but marvel at how pretty and unpolluted the surroundings were.

"Took you long enough."

Shinsou whirled around, finding a green haired boy sitting high up on a tree, looking down at him. He was wearing the same thing as when he had previously seen the boy, except this time, his hood was down, revealing a mass of curly green hair.

"Izuku." Shinsou murmured, and the greenette let out a small smile, "Hey, Hitoshi."

Shinsou gestured at the lake, "Is this... where you've been all this time?"

"Pretty much. It's... peaceful here... without any humans around." Midoriya just shrugged, and Shinsou's face fell slightly, "Hey... you know what my parents did... I'm... really sorry..."

Midoriya just jumped down from the tree, landing elegantly, before he tilted his head slightly, "You know that's not your fault. And you've got new parents now that are much better than your old ones."

Shinsou blinked, "Wait... how did you know about that..."

"I've kept tabs on you." Midoriya replied, and Vee sniffed at Midoriya's feet curiously, as a white Eevee popped out of Midoriya's hood, looking down at Vee.

Midoriya glanced at his Eevee, "Go play with her."

The Shiny Eevee yipped excitedly, before they jumped onto the ground, running off with Vee hot on their heels.

"Is that... a Shiny Eevee?" Shinsou asked.

"Her name's Reiko. And... not really." Midoriya stated, sitting down on a log, before gesturing Shinsou to sit next to him, "There were these villains... who tried to experiment on Eevees because of their unstable DNA and their ability to evolve into multiple Pokemon. Reiko was... the only Eevee to survive."

"Oh." Shinsou numbly muttered, before Midoriya turned to the lavender ahired boy, "Your next gym is the water type gym, right? That's why you and your... friends... were in the forest?"

"Yeah... " Shinsou nodded, "Also... what was the deal with Zero?"

Midoriya paused briefly, "I... wanted to make sure that he went to a good trainer. Zero has really been looking forward to getting one, and he's always running up to whichever human enters the forest. Few trainers have expressed interest in catching him... but they weren't exactly good. They don't abuse Pokemon, like some people... but they definitely see them more as tools rather than living things."

"I see..." Shinsou looked around, before he heard a small purr. He turned around, noticing that there was a small Shinx that was pawing at the log they were sitting on, looking up at him curiously with wide, bright eyes.

"Hello." The lavender haired boy reached out, and the Shinx flinched, and warily sniffing Shinsou's hand, before gently nuzzling him, _"Nice human?"_

"Yes... nice human." Midoriya just gazed at them, thinking silently, "I think... you should take Teru with you."

Shinsou just turned to face the green haired boy, as the Shinx crawled up onto his lap, "What?"

The greenette just nodded at the Shinx, scowling, "He was specifically bred by some rich assholes to have Fire Fang, Ice Fang and Thunder Fang as Egg Moves... but he has some trouble using them consistently. He's former trainer wasn't happy about that, constantly abused him when he couldn't use the moves properly... and promptly abandoned him when he bought another Shinx that was able to use the moves right from the get go. I've managed to help Teru master those Egg Moves... but still, he grew up in captivity, and can't properly adapt to living in the wild. I think you'll be able to help each other out."

"You're... trusting me?" Shinsou muttered, and Midoriya turning to face the water, "You're one of the only people to ever show kindness to a freak like me... I... know you're a good person."

"I... suppose so." Shinsou turned down to look at Teru, "Are you sure you want to come with?"

Teru's eyes lit up excitedly, and he reached a paw out for one of Shinsou's spare Pokeballs, allowing himself to be captured."

Shinsou immediately let Teru out of the Pokeball, and Midoriya stood up, "Teru knows the way to your friends. You guys should get back now."

"You're leaving?" Shinsou asked, and Midoriya nodded, "I've got something to do. Take care of Teru."

Midoriya gazed at Shinsou, "Hey... Hitoshi... can you promise me something?"

"Sure?" The lavender haired boy tilted his head, as the green haired boy spoke up, "Please don't tell anyone you saw me."

The greenette let out a sharp whistle, and another large breeze blasted through the clearing.

By the time the wind died down, Midoriya was already gone. Reiko had also disappeared, and Vee just looked around, completely confused.

It was like Midoriya hadn't even been there at all.

Vee ran back to Shinsou's side, introducing herself to Teru, as Shinsou looked up at the sky, "Yeah. I won't tell."

Shinsou looked down at Teru, who was playing around with Vee, "So... how do we get back?"

* * *

"Where on earth were you!? We were about to call my brother and your parents because we couldn't find you!" Iida shook Shinsou wildly. Sure enough, Teru had led the lavender haired boy back to his friends, where apparently, the three kids had spent the last fifteen minutes looking for him.

Teru hid behind Vee, slightly terrified, as Vee just laughed at Iida's actions.

"I'm sorry!" Shinsou apologized, once Iida let him go so that he could catch his breath and stop everything from spinning, "I saw a Pokemon and got distracted... I thought you guys were following behind me..."

It wasn't like he could just say he was kidnapped by the boy that he had made friends with almost eight years ago, and had practically been gifted a Pokemon by said friend.

"You saw a Pokemon? Aside from Zero, we literally didn't see a single Pokemon at all!" Koda spoke up, "Did you catch them?"

"Kind of." Shinsou replied, turning to Vee and Teru, "Come on, it's alright. My friends are harmless... for the most part."

"What do you mean by that?!" Uraraka huffed, as Teru meekly poked his head out from behind Vee.

"A Shinx!" Plasma exclaimed, flying down to inspect Teru more closely, with the Shinx reaching out a paw, trying to swat the Pokedex out of the air.

"It's getting late... we should head back to Hosu City now..." Koda stated, and the other three trainers all nodded, "Alright."


	6. Cages

Needless to say, Shinsou and Iida didn't have too much trouble defeating Manual. Iida hadn't collected his first badge yet, so with an evolved Aqua and Valkyrie that had pretty high base stats, as well as resisting water-type moves, Iida easily took down the Horsea, Staryu, and Panpour to claim his first badge.

And if Iida had it easy enough, then Shinsou had it even easier. The lavender haired boy had done some training with Teru the night before, and the Shinx had been much stronger than he originally thought. Manual had used the same team of pokemon against him, except they were slightly stronger and had a wider move pool, but Teru managed to take them all out due to resisting the electric type moves and dealing super effective damage with Thunder Fang.

After Manual registered them under his gym badge, as well as giving them the commemorative gym badge, they decided to explore Hosu City for the rest of the day, stock up supplies, before leaving for Shimane City the next day, where the next gym leader, Uwabami, was located.

"Uwabami... what type does she specialize in?" Uraraka asked, strolling along, "She uses an Arbok, a Milotic and a Seviper, doesn't she?"

"She doesn't specialize in a single type... more like, she specializes in snake-like Pokemon." Iida explained, "Uwabami is some sort of celebrity, and I think her brand or logo or... something... is made up of like... a purple, yellow, and green snake, so Arbok, Milotic, and Seviper represents those colors."

"Aren't they all pretty strong? Arbok and Milotic are fully evolved, and Seviper doesn't evolve in the first place." Koda piped up, "That's a pretty huge leap from all the pre-evolved Pokemon the previous two gyms used."

"Well... we'd have to deal with evolved Pokemon sometime." Shinsou shrugged, "Come on, I think there's a department store here... we should use this opportunity to stock up on some TMs and TRs."

* * *

Midoriya clung onto the Flygon's neck tightly as the green dragon flew through the air. The Flygon craned her head slightly, checking on her human passenger, before she asked, _"You alright, Zuku?"_

Midoriya let out a sigh, "I'm fine, Tiamat. I just... wished I could have save more of those Pokemon."

 _"We barely made it out alive before they set all the Electrodes to Self-Destruct. We didn't really have a choice. We should be happy we managed to make it out with all the babies."_ Tiamat muttered under her breath, before looking down to check on the cage that she was carrying, filled with several Magby, Elekid, Budew, and even a Toxel, who were all looking down at all the clouds through the bars of the cage in curiosity.

They didn't have time to break the lock before the Electrodes were set off, and even then, it would have been much harder to transport all the baby Pokemon without something to hold them in.

Reiko popped out of Midoriya's hood, nuzzling her human, as the boy just groaned, "I suppose so... but what about all the Magmar, Electabuzz, Togekiss, Roselia and Toxtricity? They were stolen from other trainers... and all those villains probably made it out alive."

"Well... just catch the villains later." Tiamat rolled her eyes, keeping an eye on Ryuto, as the Fletchinder flew ahead of her in the distance, flying in loops and somehow not getting confused after all the circles he'd been flying in.

Ryuto saw the lake in the distance, letting out an excited screech, and he flew downwards, divebombing towards the lake.

 _"You're not a Fletchling anymore!"_ Tiamat yelled, _"You're a fire-type now! Don't fly into the lake!"_

Ryuto extended his wings just before he hit the water, his feet skimming the surface of the lake, and Midoriya and Tiamat both let out a sigh of relief.

Pyro raised his head as he heard Ryuto screeching, and sighed, _"You guys are back."_

When he had heard that Midoriya would be infiltrating the villains' base through the vents, Pyro had adamantly just refused to tag along. His tail would probably make the entire vent far too stuffy, and it would be way to easy to see them from the light emitted by his tail.

What sucked was the Ryuto had decided that he had to _impress_ the Charmeleon, for some reason, so any time the older fire-type pokemon didn't go on a raid to free Pokemon, whether they be wild, poached, or stolen, the Fletchinder would find some opportunity to recount every single thing he did.

A Zoroark raised her head, letting out a small chuckle, _"Good luck with your disciple."_

 _"He is not my disciple and you know that, Eclipse."_ Pyro smacked the older Zoroark, but the Illusion Pokemon just laughed mischievously, "Don't hit me. You know I'm the one keeping most intruders from even finding this place. I don't know what would happen to every Pokemon that Izuku rescues if you faint me."

 _"Shut up."_ The Charmleon grumbled, as Ryuto landed on the ground, _"Hi Pyro! Hi Eclipse! We're back!"_

 _"Hello."_ Eclipse chuckled, as Pyro gave out a small grunt, before Ryuto launched into his usual tirade, _"So, we got there, and there were so many grunts guarding the area? And luckily, that place seems to have Sandstorms often, so Tiamat was able to sneak all of us past the guards with her Sand Veil ability, and -"_

Pyro just faceclawed in exasperation, much to the amusement of Eclipse.

Tiamat gently placed the cage on the ground, and Midoriya hopped off her back, before proceeding to pick the lock. Reiko leapt out of Midoriya's hood, shaking herself slightly, before she charged at the cage and melted the entire door off with Sizzly Slide, letting all the baby Pokemon out.

 _"Uh... what are we going to do with all of them? Someone's going to have to keep an eye on them..."_ Tiamat asked, not really sure how to react as some of the baby Budew decided to cling onto her, since she was also green, _"Or are you going to find Nezu and see if he can give them a nice home, before being given to trainers who can care for them properly?"_

"We'd still have to keep them for a while to see what they prefer." Midoriya replied, glaring at the now empty cage, before kicking it lightly with his foot.

An Alakazam suddenly appeared, _"Nezu says he has something for you... and he's asking you to meet at his lab. I can teleport you directly to the woods surrounding his lab directly... unless you'd want to traverse there yourself again?"_

"It's fine. I can get there on my own." Midoriya replied, "Did he say what time?"

The Alakazam shook his head, as the Shedinja settled on his shoulder cackled, _"I told you so, Psyche. He never changes his answer, and yet, you insist on asking."_

 _"It's called being polite, and that's something your ghostly butt wouldn't understand, Soru."_ Psyche retorted.

Midoriya just shook his head, sighing in exasperation as the Alakazam and Shedinja continued to bicker back and forth, before he stood up, glancing at Tiamat, who was trying to scoop all the Budew up with her tail and trying to keep the Magby from fighting with the Elekid, as Reiko tried to coax the shy Toxel out of the cage.

He just sighed again, before he walked to the small house that was right next to the lake. A waterwheel ran next to a stream, powering all the electricity in the house, and Midoriya grabbed his laptop, gently petting the Aerodactyl that was napping peacefully by the fire, before setting off into the woods, taking the path that he always took, and made his way to Musutafu Town.

* * *

Nezu watched as the news droned on and on about some villain base that had exploded deep in some desert, before he heard a knock by the back door of his laboratory. Fumbling with the remote in his paws, Nezu switched off the television, before he rushed to the door, nearly crashing into the wall, as he turned the knob, opening the door and revealing a hooded figure.

"Hello, Izuku!" Nezu chirped, letting the boy into the room, and Midoriya handed Nezu his laptop, "I've updated some of the Pokedex entries..."

Nezu just smiled up at the boy, gently taking the laptop from him and ushering him to take a seat on the couch, before he grabbed the black device off his table and handed it to Midoriya, "Here! I've been working on this for a while."

Midoriya just pulled off his hood, looking at the device, before he looked back at Nezu, confused.

"It's a new Pokedex I've been working on for you." Nezu clarified, "I programmed it so that it is connected to my lab's network, and you can just input the Pokedex entry here, and it will be sent to me automatically. You won't have to bring your laptop here to give me all the updated entries physically."

Midoriya nodded, as he flicked the device on, and started to explore it's features curiously. Nezu plugged in the laptop into his main computer, and started uploading the data that Midoriya had, before he turned around, facing Midoriya seriously.

I know you don't like being around this town much, due to your... history... with this place... so with this, you won't have to come here every month to update me. I can also talk to you directly through this device to update you about potential pokemon that might need saving, or if you have a specific type of Pokemon that might be a good fit for another newbie trainer." Nezu stated, lowering his head slightly.

Midoriya just raised his head, looking at Nezu in confusion, knowing fully well that Nezu doesn't do anything without a reason, before the Furret continued, "It's for your own safety. You don't have to leave your home to share information, and with how many people are constantly trying to get into the forest, one of them is bound to see you. All the Psychic-types and Zoroark that live there won't be able to hide that Pokemon utopia forever. You know that I don't approve of what you're doing. It's far too dangerous, but I also understand why you do all of this."

Nezu gently ruffled Midoriya's hair, "I just want you to be careful out there. Don't be reckless and bite off more that you can chew. You can't save everyone, you know that, right? And you don't have to do so. Even saving just one Pokemon is good enough."

The green haired boy nodded.

* * *

Chisaki picked up the large vial of blood, before glancing over at the chair, where a small girl with white hair and a small horn lay, strapped in tightly, having already passed out from the loss of blood.

He needed to repay the debt to the boss of the Shie Hassaikai, the man that took him in, and the only way he could do so was to reinstate the Shie Hassaikai, even if he had to put his father figure into a coma to do so.

He had dedicated his life's work to learning how to force Pokemon beyond their limits, making them more powerful than ever before. He learned how to how close the doors to their hearts, turning them into soulless fighting machines. These Pokemon, that he called Shadow Pokemon, are not hesitant to attack with full force, and would even attack other trainers.

Shadow Pokemon can't be detected by other people, so everyone would just think that these Pokemon are going berserk. He had even refined and upgraded the process, allowing for the increased production of many Shadow Pokemon simultaneously.

And the best part of all of this? Moves used by Shadow Pokemon, which Chisaki liked to call Shadow Moves, for simplicity sake, are super effective on non-Shadow Pokemon, but are not effective on other Shadow Pokémon.

With these powerful, uncontrollable Pokemon, they could make a huge profit by selling them through underground black markets to greedy trainers to wanted to destroy their opponents, or even to villains, who would want these creatures to take down various pro trainers. And eventually, pro trainers would realize that the only way to take down Shadow Pokemon is with another Shadow Pokemon, so they would also have to purchase these Pokemon from the only reliable supplier; the Shie Hassaikai.

Everything was perfect, going according to plan, until _she_ came along. She undid all of his hard work in one, single touch, completely purifying his Shadow Houndoom to the point where he couldn't even tell that the Houndoom had been corrupted before.

He growled. That girl wasn't human; she wasn't normal.

There was a reason that he had killed off her parents, so that none of her kind could possibly be ever produced again. He supposed he was lucky, stumbling across the problem early and nipping it in the bud, instead of finding out about _her_ existence after he had distributed his Shadow Pokemon and the Trainer Commission ended up getting to her first.

Even though the only _thing_ that could possibly put his plan into jeopardy, he needed to make sure that nothing, not even _her_ , could mess up his plan.

Now, he had to stabilize the process to increase Shadow Pokemons' resistance to purification, but despite his many attempts at analyzing her DNA and trying to alter his methods that corrupting Pokemon based off that, _she_ had always been able to undo all of his hard work.

He needed to create a Shadow Pokemon that is completely impossible to purify, so that not even she could undo his attempt to bring the Shie Hassaikai back to power.


	7. Festive Times

Midoriya stood in an alleyway, his hood pulled on securely, looking around the area warily.

He had heard rumor some villains using one of the buildings in the area as a hideout, but he wasn't too sure which one it was. He needed to find one of those villains, and possibly track them to the hideout, or just threaten them outright, before knocking them out. He was just going to do some quick scouting first, before deciding which Pokemon were best suited for raiding the hideout.

He heard the sound of something running, and he turned a corner, not really sure what was going on, until a Riolu ran right into him. The Emanation Pokemon fell onto the ground, looking up at Midoriya, they're red eyes practically glowing in fear, as another man ran into the same alleyway.

"I'm so sorry about my Pokemon. It's very mischievous and loves to run away from me." The man apologized, before he turned to the Riolu, growling, "Get back here!"

The man tried to recall the Fighting-type, but the Riolo hastily dodged the red beam and hid behind Midoriya, shaking.

Under his hood, the green haired boy frowned; there was no way this Riolu could be acting out of mischief. Most Riolu are sensitive to a special type of energy called Aura, and while not all Riolu can fully use these powers, all of them can sense and read these Aura waves in order to see if a person is good or bad.

It was most likely that this Riolu was running away from a possible abusive trainer, and if this was the case, then Midoriya needed to put an end to this before seeking out other villains.

"Riolu!" The man growled, his eyes glowing in rage, "Get back this instance!"

Midoriya glanced down at the shaking Emanation Pokemon, before turning his attention back to the man, "This is your Riolu?"

"Yes!" The man replied, and Midoriya asked, "If he is your Pokemon... why is he scared of you?"

"I don't know!" The man hissed, taking a step forward, which prompted the Riolu to hide himself further behind Midoriya, "That stupid mutt is never listening to me, and always causing mischief by running away from me!"

Midoriya took a step forwards threateningly, his emerald eyes glowing in rage under the hood, "Don't call him a stupid mutt! And Pokemon won't run from their trainers for no reason. Especially not Riolu; they're extremely loyal Pokemon. You're not going to get him back until you explain why he's scared of you!"

The man just froze, before tossing the Pokeball to the ground and crushing it beneath his feet, "Whatever! It's stupid! It can't follow directions, it won't evolve, it can't even battle! All it does is create a mess! I can just buy another one!"

The man just ran out of the alleyway, and Midoriya decided it just wasn't worth pursuing him at this point in time. He remembered the guy's face; he'd track him down later.

Midoriya turned his head to look at the Riolu, and the Emanation Pokemon caught his eye, and began backing away slowly. The greenette just reached down slowly, with Riolu just staring at his hand warily, before the greenette gently pat Riolu's head, running his fingers through the Riolu's short fur.

The Emanation Pokemon froze for a good minute, before reaching his paws out to grab Midoriya's hand.

"You alright there?" Midoriya softly asked, "Don't listen to whatever that asshole said, okay?"

The Riolu looked away slightly, before turning back to Midoriya, _"Bad human. Took me away from Mama. Made me fight birds and the ground kept shaking and he threw me in water and would push me down."_

The Pokemon looked up at Midoriya, _"Are you... going to make me go back?"_

"No." Midoriya shook his head, before gesturing to the remains of the Pokeball behind him, "He doesn't own you anymore. And even if he did, I won't make you go back unless you want to."

Riolu's face immediately lit up, _"I knew you were nice human! Mama told me that if the human that got me was bad, I should find a nice human!"_

Midoriya gently scratched Riolu's head, "Hey... Riolu, do you mind Teleportion?"

Riolu just looked up at Midoriya in confusion, _"I don't know Teleport."_

"I..." Midoriya paused, "I'm going to teleport home. Are you okay with that?"

The Riolu thought about for a few seconds, before nodding hesitantly. Midoriya picked up the small Emanation Pokemon, wrapping his arms around Riolu tightly, "Alright, hold on for a few seconds."

Midoriya looked around the alleyway to make sure no one was around, before he closed his eyes and concentrated.

_Home._

He could feel the familiar feeling of being teleported, and by the time he opened his eyes, he could see the lake in front of him. Soru just turned to Psyche, _"Hey, using Mind Reader and then Teleport is pretty handy."_

Psyche just sighed in exasperation, opting to ignore the bug in favour of the Pokemon in Midoriya's arms, _"We have a new addition?"_

Midoriya just nodded slowly. Riolu was still clinging tightly to him, and Midoriya gently pat Riolu, "Hey, we're here."

Riolu lifted his head, and looked at the area around them. He could see a Flygon napping near the lake, curled up around several sleeping Budew. There were several Elekid and Magby sleeping within the cloud-like feathers of an Altaria, as a Toxel tried to pat a Charmeleon's head, much to the chagrin of the Fire-type.

The forest was teaming with Bug-type Pokemon, and Riolu could see several Water-types fooling around in the lake.

A white Eevee ran up to Midoriya, looking up at Riolu curiously, and Midoriya let the Emanation Pokemon down to interact with the others and to introduce themselves. It wasn't long before Reiko and Riolu were running around and playing with each other, but that was cut shorts as a Gardevoir emerged from the forest, picking up the Riolu, _"AHH! You're so cute!"_

She spun around, holding onto the small blue Pokemon tightly, but luckily, a Gallade swiftly plucked Riolu out of her grasp and set him down before Riolu got too dizzy.

 _"We talked about this! You can't just pick up every single baby Pokemon that you see!"_ The Gallade argued, putting himself between his female counterpart and the small Fighting-type pokemon.

 _"But he's so cute!"_ The Gardevoir countered, "You can't tell me not to cuddle him!"

 _"You already cuddled all the Magby, Elekid, Budew and that little Toxel! And got attacked for your efforts!"_ Gallade sighed, trying his hardest to drag Gardevoir away, "

Midoriya gave Eclipse a scratch behind her ear, eliciting a purr from the Illusion Fox Pokemon, as they watched the two Psychic-type Pokemon arguing.

There were many Zorua and Zoruark scattered all around the Beast's Forest, using their illusion abilities to hide the lake from view, and with the help of the multitude of Psychic-type Pokemon that also live in the forest, to misdirect everyone away from their homes; the Zorua line use visual illusions, while the Psychic-types fill in the gaps to manipulate people's perception of the world around them.

With their abilities, they could make people think that they're completely lost within the forest, when in reality, the exit was literally just ten steps away from them.

They didn't want to pick a fight, and given people's destructive nature, they'd much rather hide than pick a fight with people that they might not necessarily win, which could result in their capture and being taken away from their families, since they weren't exactly considered common Pokemon.

The occasional Dark-type Pokemon, like Mightyena and Hydreigon, slipped past their ability to hide them, since the Zorua line's illusion abilities couldn't keep track of every single living thing in the entirety of the forest, and Psychic-types can't detect them, and don't know when they should be manipulating the minds of humans to hide Dark-types.

This seemed to work in their favor, though. They managed to create the illusion that the Beast's Forest was a haunted, empty woods, void of any life, filled with nothing but powerful, destructive Pokemon that would lash out if anyone ever invaded their territory. Rarely anyone dared to enter the forest at night, and even if someone did dare to, they would be chased out by the multitude of nocturnal Pokemon that preferred to roam at night.

Thus, they could rest and drop the illusions, revealing the true forest that was teaming with life, a true safe haven for all Pokemon.

Midoriya could see the faint light from the various Volbeat and Illumise that flitted about at night, before the boy sighed, and headed back into the small house. Noticing his movement, the Riolu immediately ran to his side, wrapping his arms against the boy's leg.

"Come on. Let's find you something to eat." Midoriya murmured softly, "Also... do you want a nickname, or do you want to be called Riolu?"

The Riolu lowered his head slightly, _"I don't want to be called Riolu... but I don't have any name ideas..."_

He raised his head, looking at Midoriya excitedly, _"Can you give me a name?"_

Midoriya just glanced down at the small blue Pokemon, before scratching his head, "I'll call you Lu, alright?"

Lu nodded eagerly.

* * *

"So... we're all good to go?" Shinsou asked, looking at his friends.

"Yep!" Uraraka grinned, as Kinu sat on her shoulder, "We're going to have to go through the forest again... so I hope it won't be too bad."

"It shouldn't. We only had problems since we ran deeper into the forest." Koda piped up, "As long as we stick to the path, we should be fine, and we'll be able to get to Shimane City in no time."

Iida checked his Pokedex, as well as a guidebook that he had purchased from one of the shops they had visited, "Well... we should spend a few days in Shimane City. Not only is there the next gym there, Uwabami, but there is also another small forest just on the outskirts of the city that doesn't seem to be connected to The Beast's Forest. There is also a desert, a Daycare center, and they host several small festive competitions a year that give out prizes such as Battle Items, Evolutionary Stones, rare Pokemon, and even Pokemon Eggs."

"We should definitely check those out." Shinsou nodded, "We don't even need to hit the gym on the first day."

"Well... according to this guidebook, Uwabami likes to make a show out of her gym battles, regardless of whether she wins or loses. She has many fans, so there will be many spectators... we should use that opportunity to see what kind of Pokemon she has." Iida stated.

"Wait, doesn't Shouto live there too?" Koda asked, "We can even meet up with him! I think he's also trying for the gym challenge!"

"Yeah." Iida nodded, "Didn't he start off with two Eevee as well?"

"I think so?" Shinsou scratched his head, "Or did he start with two Vulpix?"

"Either way, let's go!" Uraraka grinned excitedly.

* * *

It didn't take too long for the kids to reach Shimane City, and they admired the roads that were covered in festive decorations.

"Woah!" Uraraka looked around, "What event are they holding right now?"

"I'm... not sure... actually..." Iida frowned lightly, flicking through his guidebook, "Let's just visit the Pokemon Center. There should be tons of information there. Then we can make a plan of what to do -"

"Oh. You guys are here."

The four kids turned, only to come face to face with a familiar boy with red and white hair.

"Shouto!" Koda waved, and the boy just nodded. An Eevee and Glacion sat by his feet, though the Eevee looked a bit sad and gloomy.

"Do you know where the Pokemon Center is?" Shinsou asked, as Vee hopped off his shoulder to try and talk to Todoroki's Eevee, but the latter just turned away sadly, much to Vee's dismay.

Todoroki nodded, and led the way, and it was barely a minute before they reached the Pokemon Center, "This city has two Pokemon Centers, given how big it is. One is by the exit to Hosu City, and the other is by the exit to Fujiya City."

"Is your Eevee okay?" Shinsou glanced down at the small brown fox as Vee returned to his side, "He looks... sad."

"Flare's alright. He's been like that since I told him that I wasn't going to buy him a Fire Stone, and didn't really want him to evolve into a Flareon." Todoroki sighed, "I traveled to Fujiya City, which is the next town over, and after visiting my mother at the hospital, I scaled Dark Ice Mountain for Rea to evolve into a Glaceon."

"Why were you in Dark Ice Mountain?" Koda asked, "I thought there was some rumour about some villain group residing there... or am I getting mixed up..."

"Well... that's true." Todoroki replied, "I also had to get an Ice Stone for Iyuki to evolve, though i couldn't really find one. Plus... I heard that the legendary dragon Pokemon, Kyurem, resides in the Giant Chasm, which is at the very top of Dark Ice Mountain. I'd have to get to the top eventually."

"You... want to catch Kyurem?" Shinsou raised an eyebrow.

Todoroki nodded, "One of the strongest Ice-type Pokemon that doesn't have a weakness to fire due to its Dragon-typing. I want to catch Kyurem to show everyone that I don't need fire pokemon to become the strongest trainer."

"You do need type diversity, you know?" Uraraka sighed, "And honestly, I get that you have a strained relationship with your father and all... but you don't have to take that frustration out on your Pokemon."

"I get that." Todoroki looked away, as Flare crawled up onto Todoroki's lap and lay there, "I just... don't really wish to use Fire-types right about now..."

Todoroki fell silent for a few seconds, before he raised his head, "Anyways... you guys are staying for a few days right? For all the festival stuff?"

Uraraka nodded, "Yeah, you have any idea what's going on?"

"Not really." Todoroki shrugged, "But I do know what kind of competitions are going on and what prizes can be won. I'm interested in a few of them. There is a competition where we have to visit the forest and catch what we think is the "best" Pokemon, within a time limit. We're allowed to keep the Pokemon afterwards, but you can win Evolutionary Stones from those. There's a fishing competition with the similar premise, and I think they give out those... uh... trade evolution items? And there's also a battle competition based on how many gym badges you have, and you can win mystery Pokemon, as well as eggs. There are other competitions, like beauty and eating, but I don't think you'd be too interested in those."

"That sounds interesting." Shinsou nodded, "I'd definitely be up for the catching and battling competitions."

"There are two catching competitions, one in the day and one in the night. The same goes for fishing, since the Pokemon you can catch varies." Todoroki replied, "We should go register for the battles ones right now, though. They are being hosted this afternoon, and while the catching and fishing competitions run daily through the week, the battling ones are only held today."

"Alright then, let's sign up for those right away!" Iida stood up hastily, and Shinsou slumped onto the table, shaking his head slightly at his energetic friends, "It's too early for this..."

Vee pawed at Shinsou's cheek, and the lavender haired boy just glowered at his Pokemon, before he pushed himself up to follow his friends out of the Pokemon Center.


	8. Branching Out

Midoriya sat on a low branch of a tree that overlooked the lake, watching all the Pokemon playing with each other, when he noticed a small ripple by the side of the lake. A small white being with a gem on her forehead poked her head out of the lake, before she looked up at Midoriya.

The greenette nodded his head slightly in respect, "Good morning, Uxie."

 _"Hello, Izuku."_ The fairy-like Pokemon floated up to Midoriya, _"Mew visited just now."_

"Oh." Midoriya blinked, "What's going on?"

Mew liked to visit the lake often, and Midoriya really didn't know why. The small playful pink feline was hard to read, and Midoriya could never tell when Mew was trying to play a prank, or something serious was going on and she was just trying to help out.

With the ability to Teleport, Mew also liked to just pick up random items and deposit them in Uxie's cave, or in the homes of the other two members of the Lake Trio. The last time Mew had done that, she had given Uxie some rainbow-coloured glass rock that looked like a marble with a small double helix in the center of the rock, and Uxie had given it to him for absolutely no reason.

It was kind of pretty, though, and Reiko also seemed to like the weird looking rock, so Midoriya had kept it.

Still, if Uxie thought that Mew's visit was important enough to warrant telling him, then it was probably something serious; he trusted Uxie's judgement.

 _"Nothing too much at the moment."_ Uxie replied, _"There was a small tsunami that other day, remember?"_

Midoriya nodded, and Uxie continued, _"A bunch of idiots tried to summon and control Kyogre by using the Red Orb of all things. Stole it from the Celestial Tower, and the Blue Orb was left untouched. Mew found it funny when Kyogre got pissed and drowned all them before going back to sleep, and went to return the Red Orb back to the tower, before coming to inform me of the humans' idiocy."_

The green haired boy just rolled his eyes. Humans were just... _so_ incredibly stupid at times.

Midoriya muttered, "Kyogre's blue; how on earth did they think that the Red Orb of all things was the key to controlling them?"

Uxie nodded, floating up to sit next to Midoriya, _"Exactly. Even if they didn't know which orb to use, they could have just taken both orbs."_

They sat there in silence for a while, before small, green vortex of light appeared, and Celebi appeared out of thin air, "Hi!"

 _"Hi, Celebi."_ Uxie looked at the time-travelling Pokemon, "What's going on?"

 _"Well, there's are Pokemon Catching contest in the forest by Shimane City."_ Celebi stated.

 _"And that's important... why?"_ Uxie asked, and Celebi replied, _"Well, tonight, during the competition, some villains will use that opportunity to steal people's Pokemon, since they are only allowed to bring one of their Pokemon into the forest for the competition because of the rules. And that boy you like, he will be participating in that particular event, as well as his friends."_

"Oh." Midoriya blinked. He was going to have to make a trip to Shimane City, then, though he had no idea how he was supposed to take care of the poachers when he wasn't sure where they were.

 _"You should go get used to the city."_ Uxie stated, almost as if they had read his mind, _"Bring Lu with you. His aura abilities would be helpful in trying to figure out where they are. I'll go talk to Azelf to see if he has any other information."_

Midoriya just nodded. Most legendary Pokemon were non-binary, though most people just like to call them genderless, but most of them do have gender identities that they prefer.

Tiamat raised her head from her warm sunbathing spot on the ground, and flew up to the tree, bowing to the two mythical and legendary Pokemon, before turning to Midoriya.

"I heard we're going to a city." Tiamat grinned, "Is there ice cream?"

"You're a dragon. Aren't you weak to ice?" Midoriya asked. He still didn't really get Tiamat's obsession with ice cream.

 _"Well, ice cream tastes good. And a bit of ice is just fine."_ Tiamat huffed, _"And I'm eating it. I'm not getting hit by an ice type attack."_

"Whatever you say." Midoriya sighed, shaking his head, before standing up and jumping to the side of the lake. He needed to get ready for the trip, and maybe he would ask Riri to search up a map of Shimane City and upload it to his Pokedex so he doesn't get lost.

Celebi glanced over at Midoriya, making sure he was out of earshot, before she pulled out a small yellow crystal, before passing it to Uxie, _"Giratina told me to give this to Izuku."_

Uxie rolled her eyes, or at least, tried to, given that she didn't like to open her eyes due to her ability to wipe out memories, _"What's that stupid dragon doing anyways? I owed him a favour, and surprisingly, he uses that favour to ask me to watch over a human child, then he gets you to give Izuku a Griseous Orb? Why can't he just deliver the orb himself?"_

 _"You sure you're not watching over Izuku because you like him and he's a nice kid? You usually chase any human out of this forest."_ Celebi laughed, and Uxie growled, _"Hey! You know I don't like humans in general. Some stupid humans tried to capture me, as well as Mesprit and Azelf, to try and control Dialga and Palkia. Izuku is one of the first nice people I've met."_

 _"I know, I know."_ Celebi's tone turned serious, _"But... we all know Giratina's position. He's spent the last ten years in hiding due to people hunting him down in order to get their hands on a Griseous Orb, which allows them to access the Distortion World without his permission. He doesn't even leave the Distortion World to break up Dialga and Palkia's fights anymore, despite their fights always causing severe damage to his home, and Xerneas has to go do his job for him. And he feels guilty for Izuku being orphaned."_

Uxie sighed, and shook her head, _"Can't we just have a few smart humans who know what they're doing? Just because Izuku healed Giratina doesn't mean he's some kind of monster."_

 _"Well... you know... humans. They're not humans if they're not stupid sometimes."_ Celebi just shrugged, "I've got to go make sure that some idiot didn't burn my forest down again, I'll see you again sometime."

With that, Celebi disappeared into another green vortex of light.

Uxie held up the small yellow crystal, before she flew back into the lake, using her psychic powers to swim through the currents and hoard of Goldeen, Seaking, Remoraid, and Tympole, before arriving at the underwater entrance to her cave.

Her cave had been originally above water, but the humans that tried to capture her had sunk her home, which was actually pretty good, since it was much harder to find her, and she didn't have too much trouble with keeping water out of the cave.

Uxie floated into her home, and placed the small crystal down next to the pile of other items that Mew had thrown into her home. She'd give the Griseous Orb to Midoriya when he needed it, but not now; given Midoriya's current job and his past, he didn't need more targets painted on his back.

* * *

Shinsou sat on a bench with Koda, watching as Iida demolished his opponents with Valkyrie, Aqua and Zero. While being the newest members of the team, Zero was actually pretty strong, and despite being at a type disadvantage against an opponent's Makuhita, the Zigzagoon had no problems taking them down with Mud Shot.

The lavender haired boy let out a small sigh, before he stared at the Pokeball in his hand. Koda wasn't interested in battling, and opted just to watch the battles, and due to Uraraka having no badges, Iida having one badge, and himself having two badges, they were all placed into different battling categories; they only merged the trainers with five and six badges, as well as those with seven or eight badges.

The good thing about that was that they weren't battling each other, but the bad news was that all of his battles had been boring. Despite only having two Pokemon, Vee and Teru had very good type coverage, and were able to deal super effective damage to pretty much anything that had a type advantage against them. Shinsou had been able to win relatively easily, and for getting first place in his category, he had received a TM for Return, as well as a Mystery Pokemon.

Apparently, the Mystery Pokemon was supposedly from another region, so that was something to look forward to.

"So, how was your fight?" Iida asked, walking towards the bench where Shisnou and Koda were sitting at. Apparently, while Shinsou was busy thinking, the prizes for Iida's category had been given out. Given that there was another Pokeball in Iida's hand, he had also won a Mystery Pokemon, but his category didn't give out TMs as prizes.

"Too easy." Shinsou sighed, and Iida let out a small laugh, "Well, you have been training with Vee way before you started out as a trainer."

He lifted up the new Pokeball in his hand, "I don't really like the idea of giving Pokemon away as prizes, but I just hope that whatever I won would like me."

"Same." Shinsou nodded, turning his head to see Uraraka walking towards them, "Looks like she's won as well, since she has an egg."

"I see you boys are done." Uraraka grinned, lifting up an incubator that was in her hands, with Kinu patting the incubator as she chattered incoherently.

"What kind of egg that?" Iida leaned down to inspect the egg, that was mostly white with red and blue triangles. Uraraka shrugged, smiling, "Don't know. But whatever it hatches into, I'm sure I'll love them!"

"Well, let's go find Shouto. I think he participated in yesterday's competition, so he's probably... somewhere..." Shinsou sighed.

Luckily, it didn't take them too long to find Todoroki, since the boy was outside the Pokemon center, with a familiar blonde boy yelling at him, and another red head holding him back.

"Are you stupid or something?!" Bakugou yelled, shaking his arms around as his Quilava mimicked his actions, swearing under his breath, "Look, if Dynamight here didn't want to evolve, I wouldn't force him to! But he wants to evolve and grow stronger! You're not the one undergoing the changes, he is! If your Eevee wants to be a Flareon, then let him be a damn Flareon, asshole! Don't push your _daddy_ problems onto the Pokemon!"

"Bakugou, calm down." Kirishima sighed, holding the blonde boy back as Red bit down on Bakugou's pants leg.

"No I won't calm down, stupid Shitty Hair!" Bakugou growled, "Because IcyHot is being even more of a stupid dumb idiot than usual!"

"Hello, Bakugou, Kirishima." Shinsou stated, "Are you going to participate in the battling contests?"

"That stupid crap?" Bakugou snorted, taking his attention off Todoroki, "We did those battles yesterday. How many badges do you have?"

"Two. Why?" Shinsou asked, and Bakugou grumbled, "So we both have two badges. Then let's battle with the new Pokemon that you got from that competition."

"And how do you know that I won?" Shinsou raised an eyebrow questioningly, and Bakugou rolled his eyes, "If you're decent, then you would have won, since everyone else are dumb extras with their weak Pokemon."

"And the fights were broadcast on television." Kirishima added, pointing to the shop just across the street that had the current competition fights airing live.

Shinsou sighed, "Well, what did you win? I haven't checked the Pokemon that I won yet."

Bakugou simply pulled a Pokeball out and released the Pokemon inside. Shinsou blinked at the small black and white racoon with red eyes, "A Galarian Zigzagoon?"

Galarian Pokemon were rare in their region, since they originated from the United Kingdom instead of Japan, but some Galarian Pokemon, like Hatenna, Rookidee, Applin, Duraludon, and Dreepy, could be found in the wild due to poachers.

"Well, here goes nothing." Shinsou released the Pokemon in the Pokeball, which was a fluffy, greyish-brown cat-like creature with yellow eyes. The feline looked around curiously, before he wandered over to Shinsou's side.

Plasma flew down to inspect the Pokemon that had emerged from the Pokeball, and three similar yet different felines appeared on his screen,"Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokemon. These daring Pokemon have coins on their foreheads. This Pokemon's body has been toughened by living with seafaring people, and some parts of its body have turned to iron. The golden coin on its forehead had also turned dark, with a darker shade garnering more respect among other Meowth. This Meowth has an Adamant nature, and his ability is Tough Claws."

Shinsou nodded, "A Galarian Meowth."

"I figured that you would get another Galarian Pokemon." Bakugou smirked, "Come on, let's battle."

"Look, Bakugou." Shinsou sighed, "We had other plans today, like exploring the city and participating in a catching contest tonight. And I would like to get to know Meowth first before I even think about batting with him."

"Wimp." Bakugou joking snorted, "Fine, we battle tomorrow. No excuses."

"Yeah, yeah. Fine." Shinsou scratched his neck, before turning to Iida, "So, what Pokemon did you get?"

Iida blinked, before he pulled out his new Pokeball, and releasing a Pokemon that looked like a sword in a sheath.

Plasma beeped, "Honedge, the Sword Pokemon. It is said that Honedge's soul once belonged to a person who was killed a long time ago by the very sword that makes up Honedge's body. With its old cloth tied around its hilt, it attaches itself to people and drains that person's life energy completely. This Honedge has an Adamant nature, and his ability is No Guard."

The Honedge looked up at Iida curiously, and blinked. Iida squatted down, "Hi! My name is Iida Tenya."

The sword pokemon just floated closer to Iida, before turning around to inspect his surroundings.

Suddenly, for a brief moment, a shadow was cast over them, causing the group to look up towards the sky.

Kirishima squinted, "Is that a dragon?"

Shinsou looked at the silhouette of the Pokemon, which seemed like a Flygon, but he couldn't be too sure. His thoughts were interrupted by a small rumble, and everyone turned to the Galarian Meowth, who just rubbed his stomach as he looked up sheepishly at the other people and Pokemon.

"I don't know. But it's time for lunch." The lavender haired boy just shrugged, bending down to pick the Meowth up, "Come on, let's find you something to eat."


	9. Purple Cat

Shinsou just watched as his new Meowth chomped down eagerly on some Pokemon food, with Iida's Honedge floating behind it, somewhat curious.

Todoroki had brought them to a small cafe that served lunch, and the group was currently deciding what to do before they had dinner and participated in the catching contest held at night.

"Well... I wanted to bring you guys to scale Dark Ice Mountain, and maybe make my way to the Giant Chasm, but I hear that it's really dangerous at night, so we definitely can't do that today." Todoroki muttered.

Bakugou merely rolled his eyes, "Festival shit, you icyhot moron."

"There's food!" Kirishima butt in, "And I think there's a raffle every other hour, and you can win stones or TMs or TRs or something!"

Uraraka munched on some mochi as the egg sat in her lap, with Kinu sitting on the table and using her tail to brush the dust off the incubator that housed the egg, "What about the gym?"

"Well... one or two... I think the gym leader, Uwabami, is busy performing and modelling for the festival, so I don't think you can battle the gym anyways." Todoroki replied, before taking a mouthful of soba.

Kirishima grinned, "Bakubro and I skipped over Tokyo City, and came to this city for our second gym battle after defeating Manual, so we managed to battle Uwabami before the festival! For our battle, she used an Ekans, Silicobra, and Servine, but for stronger opponents, I believe she uses Arbok, Milotic, and Seviper."

"I think the gym would be open in two days." Iida stated, flicking through his phone as he caught up on the current news, "In the past years, she would take a four day break for this yearly festival, so we can just linger around before battling her. I think we can see what the rest of the festival is like today, battle Bakugou before going to visit Dark Ice Moutain tomorrow, and then maybe start getting ready for the gym battle the day after."

"Sounds like a good plan." Uraraka nodded, feeding Kinu some mochi, "Though... uh... I'm not sure I can bring an egg up an icy mountain, so I might stay here."

"I don't think that's a problem." Shinsou replied, "It's pretty likely that your egg would hatch today. For events like these, the eggs are usually really close to hatching before they're given out, and the eggs given out usually hatch quickly to begin with. In the past, people have complained that the eggs take too long to hatch... which is kind of stupid. What else were they expecting when they accepted an egg?"

"Well, I don't care how long it takes." Uraraka pouted, wrapping her arms tightly around the incubator.

"Urg." Bakugou rolled his eyes, "Hurry up and eat! I don't want to be stuck here with you shitheads!"

* * *

"Aww man! I told you guys to queue earlier!" Kirishima groaned, rushing into the Pokemon Center, "Hurry, before they run out of places!"

Shinsou sighed, as he followed the group. They had spent the afternoon just eating snacks, and just playing some mini games at the different stalls at the festival. They had won some TMs for their efforts, and even though they participated in the raffles, they didn't really win anything besides a couple Pokeballs, and they were way more interested in the Pokemon Catching contest than anything else.

"Don't worry too much." Todoroki muttered, "There's always a couple of empty slots."

Luckily, the queue was relatively short, and they managed to register for the catching contest in time.

"Now, please select one Pokemon to bring into the forest with you." The event organizer stated, gesturing to the counter of the Pokemon Center, "The rest of your Pokemon will be safe guarded here."

"Huh." Shinsou sighed, before he glanced at Vee, "You think you'll be okay here? I think I want to bring Meowth with me, since he's new."

Vee nodded, hopping onto the counter, and Shinsou placed Teru's Pokeball down next to her, "Take care of Teru for me, okay?"

Uraraka was allowed to bring the egg with her, and since her only other Pokemon was Kinu, she didn't have to leave any Pokemon behind. On the other hand, Iida decided to bring Valkyrie with him, leaving Aqua in the Pokemon Center, and Koda left Yuwai and Abra with Vee, deciding to bring Chiko with him.

* * *

Midoriya just sat down on the top of the building next to the Pokemon Center, peering carefully at the people entering via the main entrance, as well as people who could leave via the back entrance. Ryuto, as well as Reiko riding on Tiamat, surveyed the entire area from the sky, leaving him with Lu as they kept a close eye on the Pokemon Center.

Of course, there was the possibility that the poachers were already inside the Pokemon Center, waiting for the correct time to strike, but that would most likely rouse the suspicion of the police officers, as well as other Pokemon Center staff, and Lu was unable to find any malicious auras in the Pokemon Center through a quick aura scan.

He would just have to wait, and take care of the problem before they managed to strike. None would be the wiser, and he could slink back to The Beast's Forest before the catching contest was event over.

Almost right on cue, he noticed several shady figures emerging from the building right behind the Pokemon Center.

He nodded at Lu.

He's found the villains. Now, to take them down.

* * *

"So... uh... do you want a nickname or something?" Shinsou looked down at the Galarian Meowth, who just looked up at him in confusion.

 _"Nickname?"_ The Meowth tilted his head slightly, _"Even if I had one... there's no way you'd understand."_

"Er... I kind of do." Shinsou replied sheepishly, "Sorry for not telling you earlier, but I'm trying to keep it a secret."

Meowth blinked, his eyes glinting as he nodded, deep in thought, _"Well... the other Meowth used to call me Ragnar, so I guess that works."_

"Alright then. Ragnar it is." Shinsou nodded, as he wandered aimlessly around the forest, fiddling with the ten specialized Pokeballs, called Park Balls, that they had distributed for the event. For this event, they had to catch one Pokemon, and when they were done with that, the Pokedex would automatically alert the event advisors that they had completed their task, and they would be teleported back to the waiting room.

They were given extra Pokeballs, probably due to the fact that they were supposed to battle Pokemon before catching them, but honestly, Shinsou was more interested in finding a Pokemon who was eager to come with him instead of forcing some poor random Pokemon into a Pokeball when they weren't interested in it in the slightest.

"So... Ragnar, any ideas on where to go?" Shinsou asked, scratching his head as he looked around.

 _"What are you looking for in particular?"_ Ragnar asked, _"I can smell other pokemon here... I can ask them questions if you like."_

"Well, I don't want to force anyone to come with me. I just want to see if there's any Pokemon who's interested in joining up, really." Shinsou admitted.

Ragnar nodded, but before either of them could move, the bushes rustled, and a small, purple cat walked out, peering at them curiously with large, green eyes.

"A Purrloin." Shinsou stated, as Ragnar walked over to the other feline cautiously.

 _"I heard what you said just now."_ Shinsou determined that the Purrloin was a female, as she continued, standing up on her hind legs, _"I'll join up if you can prove that you're a half decent trainer."_

"Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?" Shinsou raised an eyebrow at the cheeky feline, and the Purrloin merely smirked at him, coating her claws with dark purple energy, before rushing at Ragnar.

"That's Shadow Claw." Shinsou muttered, as Ragnar jumped out of the way of the attack. He had already seen Ragnar's move set, and wanted to try some of his moves out, "Use Metal Claw."

Ragnar's claws glowed white, and he rushed at Purrloin, matching her Shadow Claws with his own Metal Claw attack. Purrloin jumped back, out of range of one of the Metal Claws, before she let out a loud screech.

Before Ragnar could do anything, she jumped forward, her tail glowing yellow, as she smacked the appendage into Ragnar, before swiftly using the momentum from using U-Turn to create more distance between herself at the other feline.

Ragnar just growled, sharpening his claws with Hone Claws, before lunging forward, slashing at Purrloin with Fury Swipes before Shinsou could even give another order.

Purrloin merely smirked as she tanked the first Fury Swipe, before swiftly ducking under the second slash and slamming her head into Ragnar's stomach.

"Be careful. She's smart." Shinsou stated, "That was Assurance. Don't attack rashly."

Ragnar nodded, before he took a step back. While he wasn't really able to hit Purrloin, she couldn't do much back to him either, since all her moves weren't really effective against him. Purrlion rushed forwards again with Shadow Claw, and Shinsou ordered Ragnar to counter it with Metal Claw once again, deciding to wait until Purrloin did something that he could exploit.

The two felines went toe to toe with each other, slashing wildly with their claws, before Ragnar accidentally tripped over a couple of small pebbles that had been kicked up the wake of their battle. Purrloin saw that as an opportunity, and immediately charged at the falling Ragnar with powered up Shadow Claws, but Shinsou immediately yelled, "Use Screech!"

Ragnar screeched at Purrloin, who flinched from the sudden noise, and the Galarian Meowth was able to use that opportunity to land a solid Metal Claw to Purrloin's stomach. Shinsou immediately lobbed a Park Ball at Purrloin, but the ball barely shook before Purrloin burst out of the ball, shaking her head, looking tired, but still raring to go, _"Good, but not good enough. You've got to do better than that."_

The Meowth let out a small growl, taking the initiative this time, and rushing at Purrloin with Metal Claw, forcing the dark-type feline to evade. Suddenly, Purrlion lunged, slashing at the Meowth with Shadow Claw, but Ragnar managed to tank the hit, and on Shinsou's command, used Payback to slam Purrloin into the ground harshly, cracking the ground beneath her.

Shinsou threw another Park Ball at Purrloin again, and he and Ragnar both watched as the purple cat was sucked into the Pokeball. The ball fell to the ground, shaking once, then twice, before it finally dinged, signifying a successful capture.

The lavender haired boy let out a sigh of relief, before picking up the Park Ball, and turning to Ragnar, "That was awesome. Good job."

Ragnar smiled toothily back at Shinsou, running over to his side, before they were suddenly teleported back to the Pokemon Center.

The boy looked around, noticing some police cars outside the Pokemon Center, before he turned to the event coordinator, "What's going on? Why's the police here?"

The event coordinator shrugged, "An annonymous tip off about poachers trying to steal Pokemon from the Pokemon Center. We actually found the villains all beaten and tied up behind the Pokemon Center, so the police are dealing with it at the moment. There's nothing to worry about, all your Pokemon are fine."

As if on cue, Teru and Vee tackled their trainer, with Aqua, Yuwai, and Abra moving over to be with a more familiar person.

"You're one of the earliest contestants back." The event coordinator stated, "I take it that you caught a Pokemon?"

"Yeah." Shinsou replied, holding the Park Ball up, and the event coordinator smiled, "Excellent! We would see what you caught later, so for now, just wait until the other contestants are done."

Shinsou just nodded, and made his way towards the counter, fully intent on healing Ragnar and his new Purrlion, before introducing her to the others, as he waited for his friends to catch their own Pokemon for the contest.


End file.
